The Legend of Spyro: The Test of Time
by Niceguy42
Summary: 20 years ago, Spyro and Cynder defeated the dreaded purple dragon Malefor, discovered a new found love in each other, and have lived in Warfang peacefully ever since. Now, 20 years later, the fate of the realms depends on the decendants of Spyro, two young dragons, must discover their true potential, if they're going to defend the realms.
1. Chapter 1

**Yes I know, _another _alternate universe, but here's a twist, the events of Dawn of the Dragon take place twenty years before they happen in the actual game and the Skylanders universe, and this story will swap between the past and present day, so enjoy!**

Chapter 1

20 years ago

Avalar valley

The sun in Avalar shined brightly as a large purple dragon wearily stood upright, feeling bruised and broken, he barely had the strength to stand upright as his thoughts became aloud.

"Oh, my head..." the purple dragon began to collect his thoughts as he saw a black dragoness lying beside him.

"Cynder!" The dragon rushed over to her and rolled her onto her back, all he saw were closed eyes, then a weary voice started to speak.

"Spyro...did we win?" Cynder mumbled as Spyro gave a delighted nod, and he helped her up.

"You scared me Cynder...I thought I'd lost you" Spyro spoke with a concerned tone as the dragoness gave him a coy smile.

"Well, Spyro you can't lose me, not after all we've been through, besides the snake charms keep us together anyway" Cynder giggled as Spyro gave her a hug.

"Well, I wouldn't rather be stuck with anyone else, you know Cynder...what you said back in Malefor's lair..." Spyro trailed off as Cynder gave a slight look of confusion.

"About..." Cynder gave him a questioning look.

"You know, you said you...loved me..." Spyro jogged Cynder's memory as she also remembered it.

"Oh...that...so do you feel the same way?" Cynder asked as the purple dragon gave her a look...and smiled.

"You know I do..." Spyro chuckled as he gave Cynder a kiss on the cheek, and Cynder couldn't help but blush.

"Spyro!" Cynder spoke with a slight nervousness in her tone.

"Well, now that's out of the way, I feel we should head back to Warfang, the others will want to know we survived" Spyro explained as he spread his wings, Cynder did the same as they took flight.

"I can only imagine what Sparx is gonna say..." Cynder chuckled nervously, the dragonfly and her hadn't necessarily been close to each other, considering he didn't trust her since Convexity, she was hoping he wasn't too harsh on her for scaring the death out of him with the two didn't return.

"Yes...one can only imagine..." Spyro chuckled as the two returned towards the city, and expected the crowd they would receive.

Present day

Warfang

"Come on...come on!!" A firery orange dragon stood outside a large house in the city, as he practiced his fire techniques.

"Oh Ash...saying come on isn't going to help" a magenta dragoness stepped outside to watch Ash as he practiced his fire some more.

"Easy for you to say Nina, at least Mom has the time to teach you about your elements, my father is so busy with the Guardians, he doesn't even get the chance to teach me!" Ash retorted as Nina giggled slightly at her brother's attitude.

"Well, for one thing, saying come on isn't going to get that fire breath of yours going, just concentrate...and find your inner spark" Nina encouraged Ash as he closed his eyes and mumbled to himself "find your inner spark..."

Immediately his eyes lit up orange as a burst of flame came from his mouth.

"Huh! I did it! Mom! Come out here!" Ash called for his mother, and low and behold Cynder appeared out of the entrance.

"What is it, honey?" Cynder knelt down as Ash demonstrated his fire breath.

"I did it, all in my own!" Ash let his rush of pride show as he straightened himself in front of Cynder.

"Oh Ash, congratulations, your father is gonna be so proud of you when he hears about this" Cynder smiled as Ash looked upward in confusion.

"Where is father?" Ash asked as Cynder explained.

"Just finishing up some duties with Cyril, he'll be back shortly" Cynder replied as she turned to Nina.

"Now, Nina, I want you to be good tonight, okay? Stay safe" Cynder instructed Nina as Ash turned to his mother.

"What's going on?" Ash asked as Cynder and Nina turned to face him.

"Oh, Nina's going out tonight with some friends of hers" Cynder answered as Ash glanced at Nina with confusion, who were these _friends_? That was the question Ash wanted answered, there were times he could get a little protective of Nina, they may be twins, but he felt more like the older brother in the family.

"Oh, that's fine then, who are they?" Ash asked as Cynder looked at Nina and beckoned her to answer.

"Just some friends of mine, there are no boys, if your wondering" Nina reassured her brother, Ash was also a little protective in terms of dating, he didn't want any no good dragons hitting on his sister.

"Alright, I think you should rest up, Ash, and get yourself cleaned up, your father will be here any minute, and I want you looking your best when you tell him the news" Cynder instructed her son as the three dragons entered the house.

_"Friends, I hope it's just friends..." _Ash's thoughts blurred through his head as he sat there in the shower, Nina was good at not giving the highest explanations, and no one cared about it, but he didn't want Nina dating a dragon who didn't respect her, of course, he himself never had any loves in his life...other than grilled lamb for dinner, but he didn't want Nina getting swept off into something that she couldn't back out of before it was too late.

_"She deserves only the best, at least by her standards" _Ash grumbled slightly as he stepped out of the shower and grabbed a nearby towel to dry himself, he knew better than to interfere with Nina, his dad had tried to when she was 2, and he received a slightly bleeding muzzle, from that point forward, it was one of the few moments of their early years that Ash could fully remember, he then also remembered how special he was.

_"I'm the son of the purple dragon, the dragon who defeated Malefor" _Ash heard the story from Cynder many times, how his father, Spyro, saved the world by defeating the evil dragon Malefor, and then Cynder confessed her love for him, that part always made Ash cringe slightly, considering he never felt that way, it didn't surprise him when his mother would say "when you find a dragoness you truly love, you'll know how it feels" and Ash still hadn't found that dragones. Ash finally stepped out of the wash room as he heard the door open and a familiar voice say "Cynder! I'm home!" _"Dad!" _


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

20 years ago

Warfang gates

Both Spyro and Cynder landed in front of the gates as they awaited any assistance.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" Spyro called out as Cynder walked up next to him, suddenly they heard moles and dragons screaming as they all walked up to the higher wall, weapons loaded.

"Woah, woah, woah!" Spyro braced himself as a large ice dragon walked in front of all of them.

"Who goes there?" The dragon asked as Spyro and Cynder gazed upward.

"Uh, I'm Spyro, and this is Cynder, we were sent here by Hunter to meet Ignitus and the other guardians" Spyro explained as the ice dragon inspected them closer, and then gasped when he realized who it was.

"By the Ancestors, the purple dragon, you survived!" The ice dragon pulled a switch as the gates into the city opened, and the two dragons stepped inside. Immediately the streets were flooded with Dragons and Moles, all asking them questions, when they heard a voice from above.

"Look out below!" Spyro saw a familar Lightning dragon land in front of them as he tried to push back to wave of citizens.

"Volteer!" Spyro exclaimed happily as Cynder shared his optimism.

"Hello there, Spyro, and you as well Cynder, I would probably start taking with you, but these dragons are intervening" Volteer relied energetically as the Spyro and Cynder looked at each other.

"Then maybe it's best we get off the streets" Cynder suggested as Volteer continued to try and calm the citizens.

"An excellent idea, but I find it best that you and Spyro leave me here. I'll catch up, besides, you'll want to see the other guardians" Volteer explained as Spyro and Cynder nodded and took flight and went in the away from the crowd.

"Wait, did Volteer tell us where to go?" Cynder asked as Spyro merely shrugged and said "we'll figure it out".

Present day

Warfang

"Cynder, I'm home!" Nina glanced upward to see her father, Spyro, enter the house, with Cynder walking up and kissing him on the cheek.

"Glad your back, oh, I almost forgot, Ash!" Cynder called up as Ash flew down to the floor and greeted his dad.

"Ash here has something he wants to show you? Isn't that right?" Cynder asked Ash as he nodded enthusiastically.

"Well let's not waste anytime, show me outside" Spyro had Ash follow him outside as Nina giggled, she taught him how to use his fire breath, but she also realized he was never going to admit that.

_"Typical Ash..." _Nina rolled her eyes and she looked at her mother as she returned to sorting some of their dishes.

"Now, Nina, I want you to stay safe, I know I've already said it enough, but you know how worried I get about you" Cynder explained as she turned back to face her daughter.

"Yes, Mom, I know, you never do stop worrying..." Nina chuckled as Cynder leaned down and nuzzled her and watched as Spyro and Ash returned indoors.

"Well done, Ash, you've learned so much more than I could ever teach, I just wish I could be around to do so" Spyro chuckled as Ash looked up at him and showed a very wide smile.

"Well, it doesn't matter to me Dad, I couldn't ask for a cooler father" Ash happily leaped in the air as Spyro chuckled.

"You remind me of myself when I was your age, well, you were a little more enthusiastic than I was" Spyro replied as Cynder walked over to him and nuzzles him.

"He means that he thought he was a dragonfly, and he was very confused" Cynder joked as Spyro started blushing madly.

"Aw, Cyn stop!" Spyro protested, a little embarrassed.

"Sorry, no can do" Cynder replied as she kissed his cheek, Nina then glanced over to see Ash slightly cringing at the sight.

"Hey, I'm standing right here!" Ash snapped as the two looked at him, and proceeded to nuzzle further, and Nina couldn't help but giggle slightly.

_"Boys" _was all she thought as Cynder broke away and walked towards her.

"Alright, Nina, are you ready to head out?" Cynder asked Nina as she nodded in response.

"Do you know where to meet them?" Cynder asked again as Nina nodded once more.

"I want you to be careful Nina, if something goes wrong, you can always send us a scroll, and I'll come and get you" Spyro explained as Nina rolled her eyes slightly.

"I'll be fine, Dad" Nina replied as Cynder walked her outside, and Spyro continued to look at the two, and sighed as he looked back at Ash.

"So, Ash, I've got no more duties today, how about you and I have a little father-son bonding time?" Nina heard her father speak to Ash as Cynder looked at her.

"Don't mind your father, he's just worried about you, your growing up so fast, and I think you remember what happened to your little sister" as Cynder spoke Nina remembered all too well, Spyro and Cynder had a third dragon egg that didn't hatch, and instead was stolen by Raiders, Nina had nicknamed her Star, because she felt like she was the star the world never got to see, Nina looked at the marble path below her, and back up at Cynder.

"I promise I'll be careful" Nina reassured her mother as she nodded and returned inside, and she pulled out her cell phone **(yeah, due to the fact that the events of Dawn of the Dragon take place at such an earlier time, the citizens of Warfang have had much more time to advance their technology, making phones a reality).**

She saw that her friends planned to meet in the center of town, so she spread her wings and flew in that direction.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

20 years ago

Warfang: Dragon temple

After a few hours or so of flying around the city, Spyro and Cynder finally found the Dragon Temple and landed swiftly by the entrance.

"Remind me to ask Volteer for directions next time" Cynder commented as the two dragons walked up the foot of the stairs, when they opened the temple doors, they were slightly awestruck at how large the interior was, everywhere, the building was covered in ancient scribes and languages that were unreadable. Along with said scribes, there were carvings of ancient Dragons that came before their time, Spyro could even recognize a few of the dragons elements based on their appearance.

_"That one looks like a Fire dragon" _Spyro glanced at a large dragon with broad shoulders and what are ppeared to be flame insignias, he then noticed the other elemental dragons and in the middle, Spyro could see that it was very clearly a Purple dragon, he remembered how Ignitus told him how rare a purple dragon was, born every ten generations.

_"Ignitus..."_ Spyro felt a small tear flow from his eye, he missed the fire guardian, he felt like a father to him, since he discovered his origins, Ignitus and the other guardians felt like the only family he had apart from his adopted family of dragonflies, he noticed Cynder as she walked up next to him, and nuzzled the side of his head.

"There wasn't anything we could do for Ignitus, he's gone now, Spyro" Cynder told him as he turned to face her.

"I just miss him...so much...he was the only one who was there, all the way...and I just..." Spyro couldn't say anymore, it pained him to talk about Ignitus any further, instead Cynder continued to nuzzle him and comfort the purple dragon.

"Thanks Cynder, I needed that..." Spyro smiled at her as they ventured further into the temple, as they traveled down the massive corridors, they noticed the variety of dragons marching through the halls, they could tell some were stealing glances at them, and they simply kept to themselves, eventually they ran into a red fire dragon.

"Whoa! The purple dragon! It's an honor to meet you!" The red dragon shook his hand with great enthusiasm.

"You can call me Spyro, and please, the honor is all mine, uh..." Spyro realized he didn't know his name until the dragon spoke for him.

"Flame, the name's Flame, but um..." Flame tensed a little when he saw Cynder, the dragoness gave her a confused look.

"It's okay, she's changed" Spyro told Flame as he gave him a questioning look, and then sighed.

"Okay...I trust that" Flame slowly walked up to Cynder and shook her hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Cynder" Flame spoke in a friendlier tone as Cynder smiled.

"It's nice to meet you too Flame" Cynder replied rather cheerful as she walked up beside Spyro.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot! Terrador sent me out to search for you, after Malefor's Flying Fortress was destroyed, we feared the worst, and they sent me to look, but it seems there's no need for that now" Flame explained as he beckoned the two dragons to follow him. As they continued to traverse through the temple, more and more dragons were eyeing Cynder, they recognized her all too well, Cynder couldn't help but shrink away from the gazes as Spyro wrapped his wing around her back and kept her close to his side. Eventually the trio arrived at two large doors.

"Here we are, the Guardians chamber, just watch your step, this can be a little over dramatic, the doors after all, we're designed for dragons much larger than us" Flame inquired as he opened the doors and it revealed the three guardians, Terrador, Cyril, and Volteer, when they saw who it was, they turned to greet them.

"Hello Spyro, and Cynder, it is good to see your faces again" Terrador greeted as Cyril walked up besides them.

"Yes, after the incident at the fortress, we feared the very worst, luckily Volteer got to you first" Cyril glanced over his back as the lightning dragon joined them.

"Cyril complimenting me? At this point anything is possible" Volteer wittingly replied as Cyril rolled his eyes.

"Don't get your tail in a twist, my old friend" Cyril spoke as Spyro kept Cynder by her side.

"You did well Flame" Terrador dismissed the fire dragon as Terrador continued to walk with Spyro and Cynder.

"Now, I have one more question, what happened to Ignitus?" Terrador asked as Spyro looked to the floor in sadness, Cynder could tell he was uncomfortable with the matter and decided she'd speak for him.

"He's dead, Terrador, he was escorting us through the belt of fire, but he couldn't protect all three of us, so he used his energy to send us to the other side, and then..." Cynder sighed as Spyro looked up at Terrador.

"Oh...I'm so sorry...Ignitus was a good friend, he will be missed, but he did what he had to in order to ensure your survival" Terrador reassures them as the other two guardians heard the news.

"Well, that means we need a new fire guardian" Volteer pointed out as Terrador gave him a silent nod in response.

"But now we must simply celebrate their survival, the Ancestors have been truly kind to us" Cyril replied as Terrador nodded in a simple response.

"Now Spyro, you must be exhausted after the battle, let me show you your quarters for the evening" Terrador led them out of the chamber, and to their future rooms.

Present day

Warfang (center of town)

Nina's flight didn't take long, soon she found her friends waiting for her in the center. As she landed, she saw the four other dragonesses, the first one to greet her was a dragon called Flashwing, she was a bright white ice dragon with pink crystals behind her frill.

"Hello Nina, took you long enough" a lightning dragoness by the name of Videri joked.

"Well, my apologies, but I was held back a little late by a certain brother of mine, he just learned his fire breath" Nina explained as the others grew a little surprised at this.

"Well, he just now learned fire? I gotta admit, he always was a little behind on his studies, a dragon is supposed to have their first signs of elemental abilities by the age of 10, and he learned them now, when he's 15" Nina looked to see an earth dragoness, Cynthia. Cynthia was a bookworm of sorts, super techincal about everything, she was willing to ruin anything for facts, she took things a little to serious.

"I don't think it matters, what matters is that Ash learned a new power" Nina looked over to see a fire dragoness, Flare, she was the type of dragoness who would do anything for a friend, super kind and caring, Nina couldn't confirm it, but she was sure Flare had a huge crush on Ash.

"Well, where to?" Nina asked the others as they all smiled in unison.

"Well, we figured it's time we visited the dragon temple" Flashwing suggested as Nina gave a look of surprise.

"But, but that's restricted, dragons our age can't enter, only guardians or high-ranking dragons can enter" Nina replied as the others looked at her.

"Like the daughter of the purple dragon?" Videri replied as Nina gave them a shocked look.

"Are you bringing me along just so we can go into the temple?" Nina asked as Cynthia shook her head.

"No, we brought you because your a friend" Cynthia replied as Nina gave them an unsure glance.

"Listen girls, if she doesn't want to do this, we shouldn't make her" Flare tried to reason with them, but Nina eventually accepted and they moved towards the temple...

Ash laid back against his bed as he sat contemplating what happened today, if he remembered right from the basics on the elemental abilities, a dragon would gain their first signs of elemental abilities by the age of 10, he knew Spyro was an exception as he was raised by dragonflies, but he learned his abilities a little late for the son of a purple dragon, even Nina learned her elements before he did, it all felt odd to him, just then he heard a knock on the door.

"Hey, kiddo, can I come in?" Ash heard the voice of his father as the purple dragon strode right on in.

"Hey dad" Ash said plainly as Spyro sat beside him, he could tell something was wrong with his son.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Spyro asked with concern as Ash turned to face him.

"I don't know, I...I just feel left out of the moment, everyone I've known have had their elemental abilities for some time, but I just got my first burst of fire, I feel like maybe I'm...defective" Ash's words shocked Spyro, as he wrapped his wing around Ash.

"Listen Ash, you never were defective, your just...special, I didn't learn my elements till I was your age, and look how I turned out" Spyro's comment made Ash chuckle slightly, but that positivity soon faded.

"Maybe, but you were raised by Dragonflies, I was raised by actual dragons, and yet, here we are" Ash groaned as Spyro smirked, he knew what this felt like.

"Hey Ash, you forget, I was once your age, I thought the same way as you do right now, but always remember, a dragon is never defective, and you are no exception, you are my son, and I believe you are destined for greatness" Spyro's words made Ash feel more confident, and he smiled up at his father, just then Cynder rushed into his room.

"Spyro, Flame informed me to tell you there are intruders at the dragon temple" Cynder explained as Spyro stood up firmly.

"Ash, remember what I told you, I'll be back soon" Spyro walked with Cynder out of his room, leaving Ash to continue pondering.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

20 years ago

Warfang: the dragon temple

Spyro looked out the window of his quarters as the sunset gave off a crimson glare, Terrador had taken the liberty of assigning Spyro and Cynder separate rooms, this slightly irritated the purple dragon, right now he simply wanted to be with Cynder, the dragoness meant more to him than he let on, since Convexity, he had a twinge of sympathy for her, and that sympathy turned to Amity, and that Amity became fully-fledged love, he sighed in disappointment, he felt so alone, ever since Ignitus had...Spyro didn't dare finish that thought, it hurt too much to remember.

"Spyro?" Spyro turned to see Cynder opening the door as she gracefully walked inside.

"Cynder, what are you doing here?" Spyro asked as she walked up besides him and they stared out to face the starry sky.

"I couldn't sleep, what about you?" Cynder asked as Spyro looked to the floor.

"I just can't forget about Ignitus...he's gone, now, and it hurts too much to remember" Spyro replied as Cynder gave him a look of empathy.

"We can't change what happened Spyro, but Ignitus would've wanted us to move forward, and not let the ghosts of the past haunt us" Cynder explained as Spyro felt a small tear stream roll down his cheek.

"But...it wasn't supposed to be like this...ever since his death, I've felt so alone" Spyro cried as Cynder turned his head to face her.

"Spyro, I love you, I've loved you since before we stormed Malefor's castle, and I'll tell you what I told you at the Belt of Fire, you're not alone" Cynder then fiercely hugged Spyro, and the Purple dragon returned it gratefully.

"Now, let's get some sleep" Cynder said as the two dragons decided to share the bed for the night, eventually the last thing Spyro saw was the silhouette of his lover, and they fell asleep in each other's embrace.

Present day

Warfang: The Dragon Temple

Nina observed the corridors of the temple, they were 5 times her size, she did have to admit that the place was impressive, she saw her friends traversing behind her, they were more confident then she was at the moment, this was such a bad idea, just because she was the daughter of the purple dragon didn't mean they could enter the place.

_"If my parents find out about this...I'm so grounded" _Nina's thoughts portrayed themselves in her worried expression as Flare walked up besides her. Eventually she didn't want to keep doing this, and she turned around to face her friends.

"We shouldn't be here" Nina told them as they continued walking further inward.

"Come on! This isn't fun! It's nerve-wracking, what if Terrador were to spot us, or...Blaze?" Nina heard her fathers stories about how fierce and short-tempered the new fire guardian was, if he were to catch them, they would be in for it real good.

"Oh would you cool down Nina? Neither of them would see us, we're way too small" Flashwing replied as Nina signed, and then gave them a defiant look.

"I'm leaving" Nina said as the others turned to face her.

"What?" Asked Videri in a confused tone.

"You heard me, I'm leaving, this isn't right, none of it is, I'm going home" Nina spoke as the others looked upward in fear, and Nina proceed to walk in the opposite direction, but bumped into someone.

"Well well, look what we have here?" Nina gulped, it was Spyro...

Cynder had told Ash to head to his room when he saw Spyro and Nina enter the room, she didn't want him to be a part of this, Ash reluctantly returned to his room, but unbeknownst to them, he decided to eavesdrop a little, the first thing he heard was a very loud yell.

"How many times have I told you...STAY OUTSIDE THE TEMPLE!?" Ash heard his father's enraged tone.

"Whatever, Dad, I'm not a baby anymore, I can handle myself now, I think I should be able to handle the temple" Nina retorted, Ash decided he would take a peek and see the conversation.

"That doesn't mean you can't go into the temple, it's only meant for the Guardians or high-ranking dragons" Ash heard Cynder try to be reasonable, but Spyro continued to talk.

"Nina, I trusted you to be in the right here, I didn't expect you to go sneaking behind my back into a place you were told not to go, it seems as though your 'friends' are a bad influence on you" Spyro growled as Ash leaned his head further out, and he heard his father say two words.

"Your grounded" Ash knew this was a big deal to Nina, she was a lot more focused on technology than he was.

"What? You can't do that to me!" Nina barked angrily as Spyro turned back to face her.

"There'll have to be consequences for your behavior" Spyro replied, then he saw Nina break a fuse.

"I DON'T CARE, I HATE YOU, YOUR SO POSSESSIVE ALL THE TIME, YOU'RE NEVER AROUND BECAUSE OF YOUR STUPID TASKS, IT'S NO WONDER YOU COULDN'T SAVE IGNITUS" Ash grew an expression of shock, his mother always told him Spyro got very emotional when on the topic of Ignitus, he saw that Spyro grew an expression of pain and grief, and he saw small tears starting to form, immediately Cynder moved to comfort him as Nina's anger turned to regret as she realized what she'd said.

"Dad, I'm..." but Nina couldn't finish the sentence as she ran out the door in shame and guilt.

"Nina! Come back!" Cynder shouted in worry as Spyro continued to have an emotional breakdown, and Ash decided to do what was clearly the best decision, go after her, this was going to be fun...(in a sarcastic way)

Nina continued to run and fly outside the city, tears streaming from her eyes, she couldn't believe what she'd said, and to her own father, she couldn't believe how angry she got, she felt as though, some sort of dark force had overtaken her for a moment, she didn't dare go back, not after that. Eventually she landed by a lake that was close to the city, she came here often to ponder, but tonight, she went there to hide.

_"I'm no daughter of Spyro, I don't deserve that title" _Nina's thoughts continued to depress her, until she heard a snap from a twig, she stood up and got into a battle stance.

"Whose there? Show yourself!" Nina demanded as she saw a familiar organe-scaled dragon, Ash.

"Ash, what are you doing here?" Nina asked, clearly confused.

"I overheard your little chat, and I came to find you" Ash admitted as Nina looked into the lake reflection in shame.

"How'd you find me?" Nina asked as Ash walked up besides her.

"Your my sister, I know a lot of things about you...including the one place you go to be by yourself" Ash told her as she smiled weakly.

"I don't deserve this family, I feel so...useless" Nina sighed as she looked into her own reflection as Ash draped his wing over his sister.

"Nina listen to me, no dragon is useless, or defective, every one of us has a purpose, you belong with Spyro, and Cynder...and with me" Ash comforted his sister as she glanced at him.

"Ash...that was really deep" Nina half-heartedly laughed through the tears as Ash smiled sympathetically.

"I learned it from someone, now, will you please come back?" Ash asked as Nina proceeded to nod, but then Ash was suspended in the air by a rope.

"Ash!" Nina cried out as Ash looked to see the trappers, Raiders.

"Nina, run! Find Dad! Go!" Ash told her as she nodded in fear and ran off to find help, then Ash looked back to face a dark purple dragoness, about her age, Ash couldn't place it, but she seemed familiar in a strange sense, there was something in her eyes, but Ash was soon knocked out by some type of herb, and everything went black...

_"I have to get away!" _Nina's thoughts screamed one instruction, run! Ash was trapped, she needed to find her father, he would know what to do, but then a Raider popped out of nowhere.

"Too little, too late, little girl, your coming with me!" The Raider sneered, Nina wasn't going down without a fight though, and she prepared to use one of her elemental breaths, immediately a blast of Electricity came for her mouth as she zapped the Raider, looks like Cynder and Volteer's lessons paid off, she leave the twitching Raider behind as she continued to run back to Warfang, she prepared to spread her wings, but was blasted by shot of a unknown substance. Immediately she was knocked to the ground, and judging from her fearful reaction, she guessed the attacker used a fear blast on her, when she looked up, she saw a young dragoness about her age.

"Running to get help are we? I don't think so" the dragoness chuckled, then Nina saw something familiar in her eyes, but was too late as the dragoness used a cluster of herbs to knock her unconscious, and the last thing she saw was her brother lying next to her, and her vision faded.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

20 years ago

Warfang: The Dragon temple

Spyro awoke to a pale dawn as he felt an extra weight against his body, then he remembered the events of last night, and saw Cynder lying in his embrace, she looked so peaceful when she slept.

_"I love her so very much, I don't know what I'd do without her" _Spyro's thoughts felt much brighter as he attempted to move, but in doing so, he awoke Cynder.

"Mmm, where do you think your going?" Cynder protested as Spyro sighed.

"Cynder, come on, we have to get up, Terrador and the others are expecting us" Spyro replied as Cynder dragged him closer to her.

"Well, I refuse to get up, and you can't stop me, come on, 5 more minutes?" Cynder continued to protest as Spyro smiled at her resistance.

"Alright, 5 more minutes" Spyro sighed as he laid back down and decided to close his eyes...

Terrador strolled down the hall in anticipation.

_"Where are Spyro and Cynder, they were supposed to be up by now" _Terrador opened the door to Cynder's room, and saw that her bed was empty, he then decided to check Spyro's room, as he opened the door, he saw what was keeping them, he found Cynder...in Spyro's bed as he smiled.

_"I should've known, I'll leave them be for now" _Terrador closed the door quietly as he saw Cyril walk down the hall.

"Hello Terrador, what brings you to this corridor?" Cyril asked as he explained his sighting in Spyro's bedroom.

"Ah yes, young love, I remember when I was young too, I met this beautiful fire dragoness from a separate royal family, the Harbingers, sadly, I lost the chance to confess when I was pulled away due to my responsibilities as a Guardian" Cyril explained as Terrador walked alongside him.

"Now, onto important matters, we need to find a replacement for Ignitus" Terrador explained as Cyril nodded in response.

"Yes, but whom would that be? Trying to train the next Guardian is more difficult than one would think, especially if it's not our element" Cyril's comment made Terrador consider this.

"We need someone willing to take up the role, someone dedicated to the protection of the realms, and someone loyal enough" Terrador listed off a bunch of qualities that would need to fit the description for the next fire Guardian.

_"What would Ignitus __do?" _Terrador realized the massive shoes he would need to fill, Ignitus was the leader of the Guardians, and since Terrador was the second-oldest to Ignitus, he was now leader, it was a massive role he had to adapt to.

"Well, I suggest we find Volteer and discuss this matter further" Cyril suggested as Terrador nodded, and the two left to continue their thinking...

Present day

Raider camp

Ash awoke with a loud buzzing in his head, he tried to feel his forehead, but he couldn't move, he then discovered why, he was tied up. When he looked over, he saw Nina, also in bondage, it was only then that he realized he was suspended in the air.

"Comfortable? I hope you didn't strain anything" Ash looked up to see the dragoness who had knocked them out, know that she was in the light, he could make out her features more.

_"The light? Wait, it's day? Oh man, Mom and Dad are gonna be worried sick"_ Ash then decided to try and identify his captor, she was a dark purple, just a little darker than Nina, with two golden horns, silver scales and Amythest eyes, her tail also came with a tiny scythe tip.

"I've felt better, um..." Ash wondered what her name was, and she answered.

"Midnight, my name is Midnight, I was named that way because of my time of birth, and you are..?" Midnight asked with anticipation as Ash tried to answer, for someone who mercilessly kidnapped them, she was awfully friendly.

"Ash, my name's Ash, and she's my sister, Nina" Ash pointed his head to Nina, who was hanging, still unconscious.

"Ash huh? That's a nice name, so is Nina" Midnight explained as Ash blushed slightly.

"Who are your kin, Midnight?" Ash asked.

"I have no kin, they say my father tried to kill me when I was just an egg, and the Raiders took me in after they rescued me" Midnight told her story as Ash listened with intrigue, she had quite an interesting life.

"What about you?" Midnight asked as Ash looked to the ground in uncertainty, he couldn't play anything safe, she mustn't know about his heritage, he didn't want Nina and himself to become bargaining chips.

"I was raised by fire dragons, Nina over here was adopted, and somehow we ended up here" Ash lied as Midnight looked a little disappointed at their apparently normal life.

"Well, Ash, you do have an interesting take on resting spots, I thought you knew this was Raider territory" Midnight explained as Ash sighed.

"Well, we weren't really taught the subject in school" Ash snapped as Midnight seemingly didn't flinch at all.

"Well, I've been assigned to to guard you, so we can have a little chat for awhile" Midnight explained as Ash looked at her sister, then at her, he then realized how similar they looked, it was almost as though they were related. Eventually Ash heard Nina grumble as she arose from her slumber.

"Ow...my head" Nina groaned as Midnight took notice of this.

"Hi Nina, your Ash's sister right?" Midnight asked rather cheerfully.

"Yeah...what's it to you?" Nina groaned in sleepiness.

"Ah, I see your still tired, here" Midnight handed her a small seed, and she consumed it, immediately she was awake and alert.

"What was that?" Ash asked in confusion as Midnight turned to face him.

"A Juniper seed, they grow frequently around here, we often use them to restore strength and keep the others awake at night" Midnight explained as Ash took this information in with fascination, Midnight seemed to know so much about the environment around her.

"Um...who are you, and how do you know my name?" Nina asked as Midnight glanced back to her.

"Oh, Ash told me, he said you were adopted into a family of fire dragons with Ash" Midnight explained.

"Adopted? We were never-" Nina stopped herself when she saw Ash trying to make her go along with it.

"Right, yeah, almost forgot about that part, sometimes I'm so convinced I'm in my biological family, I forget that I'm not" Nina chuckled nervously as Midnight sighed.

"At least you have a kin of sorts" Midnight grew slightly tearful as Nina's smile faded. Suddenly, a large Raider came out and told everyone to gather around.

"Whose that?" Ash asked as Midnight turned to face him.

"That's chief Hugo, he organizes the raids" Midnight spoke as she told them she had to go.

"So Ash, what's your little history about Midnight like? What's her story?" Nina asked Ash as he explained everything to her.

"So her egg was almost destroyed, eh?" Nina spoke with curiosity in her voice.

"From what I can gather, the Raiders supposedly rescued her from her father, whom she never knew, but I just can't shake the fact about how familiar you two look" the last part interested Nina, they did look very similar, but they turned to look as the Chief spoke loudly.

"Today we celebrate the first capture initiated by our proud warrior, Midnight, 15 years after her rescue from the dreaded purple dragon, and now, these two shall make fine bargaining chips for further supplies and resources.

_"Wait? What?" _Ash was stunned, not at the last part, he turned to Nina.

"What does he mean, 15 years ago, the only Raiders who attacked our parents also took..." Ash and Nina both looked at each other in shock.

"Star?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello everyone, now to those who are still around, this is going to be a much longer paced story than most of my work, anyway, enjoy**

Chapter 6

20 years ago

Warfang: Town Square

After a few hours or so, Spyro and Cynder both finally awoke from their slumber, Cynder still was rather reluctant, but eventually she complied, if not rather begrudgingly. Eventually they found their way to the Guardians Chamber, the building was still rather new to them, so they had to work their way through, Spyro decided it would be best if Cynder stayed close to him, so she could feel safer, being the former 'Terror of the Skies' meant she had to convince the other dragons she wasn't what she was, so Spyro wrapped his wing around her.

"Thank you Spyro" Cynder smiled as the two entered the Guardians Chamber, and they were greeted by Terrador, whose first priority would be to introduce them to some dragons about their age first, to get them accustomed to the city.

"You already know Flame, and this is his girlfriend Ember" Terrador introduced the two to Ember, who was rather shy.

"This is Nero, and that is his sister Rhea" Terrador showed Spyro and Cynder two black dragons, who were rather friendly.

"Well, I best be letting you get to know more about the city" Terrador sent them on their way as they exited the Dragon Temple, and they began to tour around.

"So, your Cynder eh?" Nero took a high level of interest in her, Cynder didn't really feel comfortable with this and shrunk back against Spyro, who kept his wing around her.

"It's fine, I was just interested, that's all" Nero replied as Flame showed them an ancient statue.

"This here is the statue of the ancient Earth dragoness Terria, legend say she helped vanquish a whole regiment of the Dark Master's forces, she was also the predecessor to Terrador before her unknown death" Flame explained the culture of the statue as Spyro looked in interest. Cynder knew all too well who Terria was, she was the one who killed her, she looked to the ground in shame, Spyro noticed this and comforted her, and they continued to tour in a much better mood, then Spyro realized something.

_"Where is Sparx?" _Spyro wondered, the little dragonfly surly must've known about there return, the news was all over the city by now, he figured he would ask Terrador later, at last their tour came to a conclusion.

"Well, that finishes that, say, I'm rather hungry, who wants to get lunch?" Flame asked as the others admitted they were pretty hungry, and Spyro felt like he hadn't had a proper meal in days.

"Great, I know just the place" Flame grinned as he took them to his favorite restaurant in the city for a quick bite to eat.

Present day

Raider camp

Nina couldn't believe it, all the pieces fit in perfectly, Midnight must've been their sister, it was the only explaintion, why else would she and Midnight look so similar? It seemed as though the Raiders were feeding her a lie to make themselves look good, Nina looked to Ash in concern.

"We have to tell her the truth" Nina whispered to Ash as he shook his head in protest.

"She can't...what if she stays loyal and tells them about it? We can't risk it" Ash's points made sense to Nina, if they told her, and she wasn't convinced, then they were practically doomed.

"If only we could get out of this rope..." Ash tried to bite at it, but he was in a position where that was utterly impossible, Nina also figured the rope was made to contain dragons, she had tried to release one of her elemental breaths, but to no avail, then they saw the chief had dismissed the others, and Midnight walked back to them.

"In all honesty, I don't really agree with the Raider's plans involving you" Midnight admitted.

"It's nice not being the only dragon in the entire camp" Nina could understand that, she never got the chance to grow up with other dragons, she never got to live in society.

"Well, if you really dislike it, you can come back with us" Nina blurted as Midnight looked in confusion.

"What do you mean? This is my place, and besides, it's not like your going anywhere, this rope is made of a substance called Grover weed, it's meant to dampen a dragons elemental abilities and it possesses an enhanced grip" Midnight further confirmed Nina's suspicions that this rope was designed specifically for dragons like her and Ash.

"But Midnight, don't you want to know?" Nina asked.

"What?" Midnight returned with her own question.

"Where you really come from?" Nina asked as Ash attempted to face-palm.

"I told you, my father tried to smash my egg, that's that" Midnight retold her tale.

"But that's not true, that's a lie the Raiders told you, Midnight...your my sister" Nina dropped the bombshell as Ash sighed, and Midnight gave her a shocked look.

"Is this some kind of joke? You told me you were adopted" Midnight gave Ash a small glare, feeling slightly offended she had been lied to.

"No, we were never adopted, we had to keep our cover, Midnight, we're the children of the purple dragon too" Nina's answer hit Midnight like a bomb as Ash sighed in disbelief as how much information Nina was giving away.

"To our family, your name is Star, the egg that was stolen from my parents 15 years ago, you were never rescued, why do you think we look so similar?" Nina's question made Midnight consider this, as she examined herself and Nina together, then she gasped in realization.

"No...that can't be true, it can't be..." Midnight stammered as Nina gave her a sympathetic look.

"Midnight, no...Star, please, you have to believe me" Nina finally made the last straw break.

"I...how are they?" Midnight asked as Nina wondered who she was taking about.

"My parents, how are they?" Midnight clarified as Nina realized.

"They're alive, both of them, healthy and well...and not a day goes by that they don't think about you" Nina explained as Ash got right to the point.

"Please, Star, you have to free us" Ash's statement made her look around in wariness.

"I can't...not now, there are too many Raiders, we'll have to wait until dark" Midnight began to walk away, and she gave a final glance at both of them.

"You know...I like Star, who gave me that name?" Midnight asked as Nina said she was the one.

"I figured" Midnight, now known as Star, smiled graciously as she walked away, and the two awaited for night to fall.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

**20 years ago**

**Warfang: Quake's Grill**

"Mmm, these guys make the best grilled lamb" Flame spoke through his food as he chowed down on his lunch.

"I will admit, it's not bad" Nero spoke as Flame rolled his eyes.

"Oh Nero, you love it, your just not prone to admitting things" Flame replied as Nero silently continued to eat, Rhea then decided to converse with Spyro.

"So Spyro? Where exactly did you come from?" Rhea's question made Spyro realize how much he needed to explain.

_"Where to begin?" _Spyro thought to himself.

"Well, let's see..." Spyro began to explain his stories in depth.

"And that's how I learned to use my fire breath" Spyro's little tale got the others intrigue, with Nero snickering slightly.

"You actually believed you were a dragonfly? That's priceless!" Nero laughed as Rhea nudged his shoulder in irritation.

"Okay, okay" Nero calmed his sister as they continued listening to Spyro.

"So you gained your Electricity breath from getting struck by lightning? Fascinating..." Rhea's interest was certainly something Spyro never expected, but it made him a little more enthusiastic about telling his stories, Cynder couldn't help but laugh to herself a little as she leaned on Spyro's shoulder. Finally, he got to the end of his stories, recapping the defeat of Malefor, he had difficulty recapping the death of Ignitus, considering it still emotionally wounded him, Cynder decided to tell that portion for him, and finally, they ended with a nice subtle "and ever since, we've been in love" Spyro smiled at Cynder as the two nuzzled each other.

"Oh, I'm so happy for you" Ember spoke rather cheerfully, and she moved closer to Flame, and Nero seemed rather unnerved by this.

"Listen, it's cute at first, but then it gets old" Nero broke the silence as both couples looked rather embarrassed, eventually they saw the sun was setting, and they figured they would call it a night, and Spyro and Cynder retired for the night.

"Alright, promise me that this time, you won't force me to get up" Cynder asked Spyro as he said a plain but flattered "yes", and they called it a night, awaiting the dawn of tomorrow.

**Present day**

**Raider Camp**

Ash swung himself in a spiral from plain boredom, Star had agreed to free them tonight, and it was almost midnight.

_"Figures" _Ash sighed, he figured Star was more of a night owl, considering how Raiders usually attack at night, she must've been more attuned to roaming at night, he looked over and saw Nina dozing, somehow...then Ash heard a slight rustle in the bushes coming from the edge of camp, could it be Star? Maybe it was their parents.

"Nina, wake up" Ash whispered at his sister rather loudly as she drowsily woke up.

"What?" Nina replied rather grumpy.

"Someone's coming" Ash told her as she forced her eyes open, Star would need to give her another Juniper seed when she came for them, but who popped out surprised him.

"Flare?" Ash asked as the red fire dragoness came out of the bushes, along with her was Flashwing, and they snuck towards them.

"What are you doing here?" Ash asked them in confusion.

"What does it look like? We're rescuing you" Flashwing replied.

"Where are Videri and Cynthia?" Ash asked as Flare explained.

"They're waiting outside the camp" Flare's explanation made Ash make sense of it, and it wasn't long before he saw a familiar dragoness coming out of a tent, Star, this would go down well.

"Who are you?" Star asked as Flashwing and Flare got into a battle stance.

"Stay back!" Flashwing growled as Ash looked down at them.

"Stop, both of you, that's Star, our long lost sister" Ash ceased them as they looked up in confusion.

"Wait? What?" Flare asked as Ash explained that he'd tell them about everything later.

Star then moved to help untie Ash and Nina, considering how she tied them up, and quickly enough, both fell to the ground.

"Now be careful, and don't try anything, it will take a little bit for your elemental abilities to return" Star explained as Ash looked upward.

"Oh yeah, could you give Nina another Juniper seed? She kinda dozed off" Ash explained as Star pulled out a seed from the pouch she was carrying, and helped Nina swallow it, immediately she was up and alert.

"There, now we can go" Star explained as they made their way out of the camp, but Star didn't account for the lookout, who spotted the dragons attempting to leave, and sent an alarm throughout the camp.

"What happened!?" Ash looked to see Videri and Cynthia rush to them.

"Long story short: run!" Nina called out as they tried to make a break for it, but they were surrounded by Raiders.

"Ash, Nina, how are those abilities coming along?" Star asked as Ash felt a warm fire boil inside him.

"I'm all fired up!" Ash declared as Nina nodded in sync, together the group started the attack, Raiders were flying around as the dragons used their elements to their advantage, Ash continued to use fire, and would occasionally glance back at Nina and Star, who were almost moving in perfect harmony with each other, pretty much one dragon. Then Ash turned back he toasted a Raider with his flame barrage, his own signature move he created, and kicked one in the stomach into a group of other Raiders, when he looked back, he could see Star using her elements with ease: Fear, Shadow, Ice and Earth, while Nina used her abilities of Wind, Lightning, Earth, and Shadow.

_"and I just learned Fire" _Ash felt a little overwhelmed by this as he realized he was relying more on Melee combat, a skill his father had taught him, he used his horns to his advantage as he knocked and kicked and occasionally merged his fire abilities with his close combat, but when he turned around, he saw Nina was on her own as Star was facing a dozen opponents at once. Ash saw Nina was backed up against the wall as Ash glared in anger, and he attempted to use his fire abilities, but a neon green clump of acidic liquid was spewed from his mouth, and onto the neck of the Raider, he started screaming in pain as Nina used her wind to blast the Raider back and ran to Ash.

"What was that?" Nina asked as they fought back-to-back.

"I don't know, but from what I read, what just happened describes the features of Poison" Ash replies as he realized he had in fact learned Poison, and Nina was slightly surprised by this, neither she nor Star seemed to possess any capabilities of Poison, Ash was something, that was for sure, but Ash continued to use his Melee combat, and eventually merged his fire, Poison, and close combat into one stream of attacks, eventually they came across Chief Hugo himself, as he picked up a spear from one of his unconscious warriors.

"You! We took you in, gave you food and shelter, and this is how you repay us?" Hugo exclamined as Star stepped up defiantly.

"You kidnapped me! I would've been perfectly happy if you hadn't stolen my egg!" Star yelled in fury, Ash stepped forward to help but Star stopped him with her tail.

"This is something I must do" Star growled as she and Hugo circled each other, eventually she charged, and unleashed a massive stream of Earth energy onto him, encasing him enough so he couldn't move.

"Ah! You dare!?" Hugo snarled as Star leaped back.

"Let's leave, it will only last for a few hours" Star informed them as they ran off...

Eventually they found their way to Warfang, and they flew over the wall.

"Well, that was something" Videri spoke as Ash saw Star observing the city.

"It's so big..." Star was amazed as Ash walked up beside her.

"It is a site to behold, isn't it?" Ash told Star as she nodded in fascination, then she grew a more concerned look on her face.

"Can you take me...to see our parents?" Star asked as Ash nodded happily, after they bid goodnight to the others, Ash, Nina, and Star returned to the house of their parents. As they knocked on the door, he heard a depressed voice say "just a minute"

Ash could tell it was Spyro, how could he not sound worried, as he opened the door, his expression lit up when he saw Ash and Nina, and tears filled his eyes as he hugged both of them.

"Oh, your mother and I were so worried, oh Nina, I'm so sorry..." Spyro spoke to her as she forgave him, then Spyro saw Star, and he asked them who this was.

"This...is Star, our sister" Nina's answer surprised Spyro even more, but then he recognized her as he lowered himself down to her level.

"Star? My little girl?" Spyro held her head with his hand, and more tears filled his eyes.

"Dad..." Star was also at a loss for words as Spyro hugged him, and then pulled back.

"You've...you've grown so much!" Spyro spoke happily as he called for Cynder, when she came out, she too was filled with Joy at finding _all _of their children.

"How about we get some sleep? Star, we had a third room planned for you, and it's still there, waiting for you" Cynder spoke cheerfully as all five of them entered the house, and decided to call it a night, and it was a happy night.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

**20 years ago**

**Warfang: The Dragon Temple**

Spyro and Cynder decided they were better off sharing a room again, seeing as how well it worked last time, and after some brief cuddling, they decided to retire for the night, it was then that Spyro's whole perception of reality would change.

_"Awake, young dragon" Spyro awoke to find himself in a familiar library, he had been here before, he knew it._

_"Hello?" Spyro called out to the mysterious voice, but no one answered._

_"I've waited for this moment to come for a long time" the voice spoke again as Spyro turned to see a familiar dragon._

_"Ignitus!" Spyro spoke gleefully at his former mentor's living state._

_"Hello Spyro, it has been too long" Ignitus replied with a large smile on his face, and he and Spyro walked through the library._

_"Ignitus, you look so...different" Spyro pointed out as Ignitus chuckled._

_"Yes, young dragon, I am now the new Chronicler, if that makes sense" Ignitus's voice now sounded more wiser than it had in years, he was practically the precipice of wisdom itself, considering he was the new Chronicler._

_"Ignitus, I'm sorry..." Spyro's apology baffled the fire dragon._

_"Whatever for, Spyro?" Ignitus asked, curious at best._

_"I...I couldn't save you at the Belt of Fire" Spyro looked down in sorrow, but Ignitus held his head, and smiled compassionately._

_"Spyro, what happened wasn't your fault, it was time for our paths to diverge, and besides, you have a new companion now" Ignitus's words made Spyro realize he had Cynder with him._

_"I'm glad you found your other half, as I've said countless times before, you and Cynder share more than you know, I saw your willingness to trust her when others would not, even the Guardians and I were skeptical at first, but you never were, Spyro, and now...you've found love" Ignitus's speech made Spyro feel all warm in jittery inside, and the two dragons continued to walk amongst each other._

_"Ignitus, I have a question" Spyro explained as Ignitus turned to face him._

_"Yes, Spyro?" Ignitus asked._

_"Whatever happened to Sparx? He was with the other Guardians when Malefor was defeated, and I know you have countless books on literally everyone" Spyro's question made Ignitus think, and he used his gem around his neck to summon a book to him, and opened it in front of him._

_"That is the question, isn't it, Spyro? You see, Sparx believed you to be dead, so he returned to his home in the swamp, and confessed everything to his parents, they too were grief-stricken, and now they're living out the rest of their days in the swamp" Ignitus explained everything as Spyro gave a look of surprise._

_"I should go and find him" Spyro replied._

_"No Spyro, let Sparx live in peace, away from the fighting and the danger, he's earned it, just as you have" Ignitus told him as Spyro sighed._

_"Ignitus?" Spyro asked as the fire dragon looked at him in anticipation._

_"What does the future hold for me and Cynder?" Spyro asked as Ignitus summoned another book to him._

_"The future does look bright for you, Spyro, you and Cynder will get the luxury of living together in peace for the rest of your days, and you may get hatchlings of your own" the last part surprised Spyro as Ignitus closed the book and sent it back._

_"Now, I must leave you Spyro, remember, follow your heart, and I will always be with you young dragon" Ignitus's words echoed through Spyro's head as he returned to a peaceful slumber for the evening, thinking of those words. _

**Present day**

**Warfang**

The day following Star's return was...interesting, to say the least, Nina figured she'd show Star the ropes of society's little game and what not, the first incident came from a random dragon about their age come over and attempt to flirt with Star, considering how she was never accustomed to this, it would make sense how she reacted...she punched him, she said it was because of her training, if anyone came uncomfortably close to her, she was told to remind them to keep their distance, and Nina chuckled slightly at her wording, eventually the two girls came across the Dragon Temple, in all it's magnificence.

"I always heard stories of the Dragon Temple from the Raiders, they said it was a war torn place filled with weapons of destruction, but it seems as though that was another lie they fed me" Star explained as Nina nodded in understanding, Star was probably told many lies about her own kind and their culture by the Raiders, and now she had to witness the truth, about what her ancestors were truly like, not the war-mongering beasts she was told to believe, the Raiders probably took their influence of this story from the Great War between the dragons and the Dark Master, and twisted it to an extent which made every dragon seem like they were pretty much Malefor with a different set of scales and abilities.

"Well now you know the truth, Star, and you deserve that truth, more than anyone, you lived your whole life in a lie, and now you broke free of it" Nina's speech made Star break out of her concentration, and the two continued their walk around the city, eventually they caught sight of a fire dragon flying down to meet them.

"Hello Nina" said the fire dragon in a friendly tone.

"Hi Flame" Nina replied as Star looked behind him, and saw a smaller fire dragon.

"Whose this?" Flame asked Nina about Star as she explained their little misadventure with the Raiders and the discovery of Star.

"Well, I'll be darned, Star, it's a privilege to meet you" Flame replied as Star asked about the smaller fire dragon.

"Oh, right, Vapor, come on out" Flame nudged the smaller dragon out in front of him.

"Nina, you've met him, but Star, this is Vapor, my son" Flame introduced the two to each other.

"Hi Vapor" Star said rather enthusiastically, she made her first friend.

"H-hi Star, so your Nina's sister huh? You certainly have your mothers good looks" Vapor made a slightly awkward joke and Star couldn't help but blush slightly at this comment.

"Well I-thank you, Vapor, your certainly an interesting individual" Star's reply made Vapor stand proud.

"I try, it certainly does seem difficult having to live up to my fathers legacy" Vapor told them as Flame himself couldn't help but stand fairly proud.

"You think that's difficult? Try discovering your the daughter of the purple dragon and having to live up to that legacy" Star wittingly commented.

"It certainly isn't a cake walk, let me tell you" Nina's comment made the three of them giggle slightly.

"Well, I best be going, or Ember will have my head, come on Vapor, it was nice to meet you Star" Flame told them as he flew off, and Vapor looked back to face the two.

"Bye Star!" Vapor waved goodbye as he flew off after his dad, leaving the two to continue their tour.

"Nina?" Star asked her sister as Nina looked in intrigue.

"Yes?" Nina replied.

"How did you get your name? it's certainly uncommon for a dragon" Star's question made Nina think for a moment.

"Well, where do I begin..."

**15 years ago**

**Warfang**

Spyro paced around in anticipation as Cynder shook her head and chuckled to herself.

"Spyro, calm down, it'll be fine" Cynder's comment made Spyro slightly glare.

"I can't calm down, what if something goes wrong? What if I'm a bad father? What if-?" Spyro was cut off as Cynder's long scythe tail sushed him.

"Spyro, you and I both know that you'll be a great father, no doubt about it, and nothing could possibly ruin this moment" Cynder then wrapped her tail around three round objects that were lying against her chest, they were eggs.

"Well, what do we name them?" Spyro wondered as Cynder decided and she pointed to the orange egg.

"I think we'll call him Ash" Cynder's statement made Spyro slightly confused.

"How do you know it's a boy?" Spyro asked as Cynder gave him a look.

"A mother knows, and besides, you can name this one, it'll be a girl" Cynder looked at the magenta egg as Spyro leaned down, and one name came to his mind.

"Nina" Spyro said quietly, he knew why he made this decision, Nina was the name of his mother, no doubt they were quite old by know, but she would always be in his heart.

"Nina...I like that, and what about the third one?" Cynder pointed to the other darker egg.

"How about-" Spyro was cut off as an alert ran through the city.

"Raiders! Raiders are invading! Defend the city!" A dragon called out as Spyro looked outside, he saw countless dragons arming themselves and preparing for battle.

"Cynder, stay here and protect the eggs, I'll make sure to keep the city protected" Spyro told his mate as he spread his wings and flew out to see countless Raiders storming the city. Spyro's throat started illuminating a bright orange as he charged in, and he started torching countless Raiders, eventually the Raiders managed to get past their defenses and started attacking the local markets and shops.

"Don't let them get to the Dragon Temple!" Spyro heard Cyril call out from above, then he heard a familiar scream, Cynder. He rushed back to see Raiders were trying to steal the eggs.

"Stay away from her!" Spyro roared as he burnt the Raiders, however one managed to sneak past him and grabbed the dark purple egg, and started to make a break for it, while not attracting the attention of Spyro nor Cynder.

"It's okay...wait? Where's the third egg?" Spyro asked as Cynder looked in shock.

"You don't think..." Cynder's terror was confirmed when they realized one Raider got away, and Spyro nuzzled her.

"Cynder...I'm sorry..." Spyro felt tears form in his eyes as he lied down next to her.

"Well...we didn't lose everyone..." Spyro whispered to her as they looked at their last two eggs, eventually the Raiders were pushed out of the city, but it was a fleeting victory, most of their supplies were stolen, and Spyro and Cynder kept close to each other that night...

**Present day**

**Warfang**

Star slightly cried as Nina finished her story.

"I didn't think they missed me that much" Star wiped the tears from her face as Nina smiled compassionately.

"Come on, let's go eat, I know just the place".


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

**20 years ago**

**Warfang: The Dragon Temple**

The next day was much more quick paced than the last, probably due to Spyro's improved mood, since his dream about Ignitus, he had been much more optimistic, instead of the unsure orphan he had been all those years ago, he was now more charming and a little bit cocky too, Cynder also noted these changes were for the better, he was much more witty towards jokes, and lots more extroverted then before.

_"He's much more sure of himself" _Cynder smiled to herself as Spyro was walking next to her confidently, to add to this, she decided it would help if she walked in a similar stance, she decided to swish her hips very smoothly right beside Spyro as he held a similar walk she recognized from Malefor, though he was clearly not the same, he used a very powerful stride whilst keeping his wings down low, and occasionally he would give Cynder a slightly feisty look, which would make Cynder giggle slightly, for once, it seemed like Spyro was who he should be, what he was meant to be, and Cynder liked that. However, that didn't change the fact that the Guardians had called them in to speak, it had been a week since their return, and they had more important matters to discuss.

"Spyro, Cynder, you have both survived the trials and tests of The Dark Master and Gaul, that is why we trust you the most with this task...choosing the next fire guardian" Terrador announced, as Cynder heard this, she saw Spyro grow a more serious look, one she knew all too well from experience.

"Why us, Terrador? We're not nearly as old as you, we have no experience with choosing" Spyro's response made perfect sense to Cynder, but it was more of, why should _she _be qualified to choose, she didn't trust her judgement well enough, she knew all too well where that led her, first time, was when she tried to leave the Guardians temple back in the forest, and ended up getting herself captured by pirates, the second time came from being captured by Gaul, she didn't think she should be responsible with the next fire Guardian.

"We understand your concern, Spyro, but unlike us, you have your whole life ahead, you've become a master of fire, Cynder as I've seen has been by your side fathfully for more then 4 years, you two have some of the best judgement we could've seen, and remember what Ignitus said to you Spyro back in the underground tunnel" Cyril pointed out as Cynder herself remembered, Spyro had questioned his judgment about being like Malefor, and Ignitus merely said: _"because I know you, Spyro, and your heart would not allow it" _Cynder let the words ring in her mind for a bit, Spyro would choose well, eventually they were dismissed to go about their day, and Spyro stayed close to Cynder, it was then he spoke two words.

"I'm scared" Spyro's statement shocked Cynder, and she turned to face him.

"Why is that, Spyro?" Cynder asked as Spyro stopped.

"What if I choose wrong, what if the realms are put in danger because of my choice? I couldn't live with myself if I was responsible for the creation of another Dark Master" Spyro's words only made Cynder feel empathetic for him. She knew how he felt, she felt it everyday, she always feared about what if she could never make others forget about her former atrocities, Spyro had helped with that, but hearing him scared only made Cynder more passionate about comforting him as she nuzzled him.

"Spyro, you'll know when you see them, you can't base your life on what if's, trust me, I know the feeling all too well, remember what you said Ignitus told you: follow your heart, and you'll find the right successor" Cynder's words made Spyro calm down a little as she coiled her tail around his in a loving way.

"Thanks Cynder, I needed that" Spyro smirked as the two exited the Temple, and out into the sunshine, it was only then that Spyro uncoiled his tail, and took to the skies.

"How about a race? I'll bet you can't catch me!" Spyro's words made Cynder pull a mischievous grin on her face as she followed in hot pursuit as Spyro took off in front of her.

"I'm gonna make you eat those words, purple boy!" Cynder called out as she pursued him at a high speed, thankfully she used her wind abilities to her advantage as she created a vortex to speed herself up, and eventually she crashed into Spyro, and the two tumbled into the nearby woods.

"Gotcha!" Cynder spoke proudly as Spyro slightly groaned in pain.

"Yes, but at what cost?" Spyro joked as he tried to remove Cynder, but she didn't budge.

"Trying to leave, are we? I don't think so!" Cynder started to tickle Spyro in his sensitive spots, and the purple dragon started to burst in laughter.

"C-CYNDER STOP, I-M VERRY T-TICKLISH!" Spyro cried out in protest as Cynder continued to attack.

"Well, thanks for telling me" Cynder smugly replied as she continued to tickle him, eventually Spyro managed to form an idea in his head amongst the tickling, and he used to little will power he had left and started tickling Cynder's sides, immediately Cynder's attacks ceased and she was now at his mercy, and he intended to keep it that way. Eventually Cynder gained the upper hand and the two tumbled into a nearby stream, where the two started having a bit of a splash fest, the Battle was difficult, but after awhile, both dragons finally left the stream, and Cynder took the liberty of drying both of them off with her wind breath, allowing for them to rest in the forest.

"That...was exhilarating" Cynder sighed as she once again coiled her tail around Spyro's, and the purple dragon replied with a simple smile, Cynder then decided to do something, he pushed Spyro onto his back, and nestled herself on top of him.

"Um...Cynder, what are you doing?" Spyro asked as Cynder laid her head on his chest.

"Enjoying myself" Cynder replied as she dozed off, and eventually, Spyro did the same...

**Present Day**

**Warfang**

Having a new sister was one of the most interesting things Ash could've experienced in all his 15 years of living, Star was everything he wanted in a sister that Nina didn't possess, she was cunning, smart but reserved, and a complete badass, Ash knew he wasn't allowed to use that language in the house, but he didn't care, Star was like a female version of himself, but unfortunately, she wasn't here right now, she was off touring with Nina.

_"She also said she'd help me discover my other two elements" _Ash thought to himself, he still needed to tell his friend Vapor about everything that happened, it was all kind of a bombshell.

_"My life has already taken a dramatic turn, which makes me wonder...what else lies in store for me?" _Ash wondered as he paced through his room, eventually Cynder entered.

"Ash, honey, your father wants to speak with you" Cynder told him as he nodded and followed her downstairs, where Spyro was waiting.

"Ash, I need to talk with you, about the incident" Spyro informed him as Ash looked at him curiously.

"Nina told me you used Poison, a rare ability found in dragons, and one that it seemed only your mother possessed, neither Nina nor Star have this power, which makes me believe that you are much more important than you realize" Spyro explained as Ash looked in confusion, he did have to admit, he had a much stranger flux when it came to his abilities, he learned Fire not long ago, and then out of the blue he discovers he possesses Poison.

"Yeah, it does seem strange, but Star said she'd help me learn my other abilities, so I'll actually be like the others too" Ash smiled as Spyro chuckled.

"Ash, you are something special, that's for sure, neither your mother or I have had normal lives at your age, and you seem to share that fate, Nina has her social group, Star too, but you...your like me, just replace Sparx with Vapor, I have a feeling your destined for great things, anyway, I wanted to just inform you of this, just checking, but do you know where Star and Nina are exactly?" Spyro asked as Ash told him Nina was touring Star around the city.

"Hmm, it shouldn't take that long for them to tour the place...I'll go find them, Ash, you stay here, Cynder, would you join me?" Spyro beckoned to her as she nodded and the two took too the skies, leaving Ash alone...

**Quake's grill**

Star had certainly enjoyed the food that was being given out to her, with Nina paying for the expenses, all Star had to do was enjoy it, granted they still needed the bill to leave, suddenly an Ice dragon walked over with two glasses on the tray.

"Here you are" the dragon placed the glasses down in front the two dragonesses, they were filled with a murky brown liquid.

"But we didn't order anything else" Nina told him as he merely shook his head.

"It's on the house" the dragon merely replied as the two shrugged and took a sip, the liquid had a savory, sweet taste, almost tart, but once Nina took her sip, she didn't stop, and she chugged the whole thing, Star giggled and did the same, then Nina started asking her a question.

"So, what was it like growing up with Raiders?" Nina asked as Star looked away.

"It wasn't pleasant, everyday we had constant drills, Hugo forced constant shifts, I usually had to fend for myself, but the Chief took a liking to me, probably because of my abilities, but there was that" as Star finished her sentence, she noticed Nina was acting a little strange, she started having little fidgets, then started breaking out into a spasm as she knocked over the glass and fell to the floor, groaning in pain whilst growling.

"Nina!?" Star rushed to her side.

"Oh my...Someone Get help!" Star cried out, luckily one of the dragons in the crowd was Flame **(don't ask why he's there, he just is) **and he took off to find Spyro, meanwhile, Nina's form started drastically changing, her horns were pulsing with dark energy, her teal eyes shifting to bright red, she started growling much heavier as Star noticed her body being covered in the dark energy, eventually Star started feeling the changes, it had to be the drink that dragon gave them, she too fell to the floor in pain, and started growling, then she looked up to see the ice dragon smirking.

"Excellent..." the dragon chuckled as Star's vision faded...

Spyro took a shortcut over the town, wherever his children were, he'd find them, then he noticed a commotion down at Quake's grill, and Spyro flew down to figure out what was happening.

"What's going on?" Spyro asked as one frightened dragon merely pointed, when Spyro looked, he saw what it was, there were Star and Nina...but they were covered in dark energy, a form of it he recognized all too well, Malefor's magic, but who he saw come out in between them.

"Hello Spyro" the dragon chuckled as Spyro gasped in shock and terror, and as Cynder landed too she saw who it was.

"Aemus?"...

Ash continued to pace in the house, Spyro did have a point, Star and Nina were taking an awfully long time, and Spyro and Cynder still hadn't returned with them.

_"I wonder what's keeping them?" _Ash wondered as he heard a thud, and saw Cynder, with a worried expression covering her face.

"Ash! You need to come now!" Cynder ordered as Ash rushed outside and followed her mother, who was already a fair distance ahead, once he finally caught up with her, he rested on her back.

"Mom? What is it?" Ash asked as Cynder didn't reply and simply took him to Quake's Grill, as soon as he landed, he saw what it was.

"Nina? Star?" Ash looked in terror at the dark forms of his sisters, and saw his father flying back, it was the doing of his sisters, then he saw an ice dragon chuckling.

"Oh Spyro, you've grown soft in your time, has being a father weakened the fire inside of you?" The ice Dragon scoffed as Spyro weakly stood up.

"Not a chance, Aemus, just a little rusty, that's all" Spyro replied as he looked as Ash and gave him a look of determination.

"Ash, you must get to your sisters, I believe your the key to freeing them" Spyro explained as Aemus looked in curiosity.

"A brother? Looks like I missed him, oh well, Star? Nina? Would you do the honors?" Aemus commanded them as they both charged into Ash and sent him into the woods, and they pursued.

"Ash!" Spyro cried out as Aemus merely cackled evilly.

"It's the least I could do Spyro, after all, you took everything from me!" Aemus snarled as he charged into the purple dragon, and Cynder moved to help him, but Spyro kicked Aemus in the stomach, forcing him to remain in the air, as Spyro strategized, he noticed a red blur ram Aemus, and saw it was Flame, then he called to his daughter and son.

"Vapor! Flare! Go help Ash!" Flame called out as the two nodded and went after him, beside Cynder was Ember, as well as Nero and Rhea.

"Figured I'd get some help, you know how difficult it was last time?" Flame pointed out as he landed besides Spyro, the two nodded in unison as they all attacked Aemus, and the battle commenced.


	10. Chapter 10

**Just to inform all of y'all, I'm making a fourth alternate universe, this universe will be known as the mixed universe, the first book will be Spyro the dragon and the Order of Assassins, this universe is being made so I will have enough versions of Spyro and Cynder to be put into the next crossover**

Chapter 10

**20 years ago**

**Warfang: Training Dojo**

After Spyro and Cynder's little alone time happened, they returned to the city and decided to spend time at the Training Dojo held within the Dragon Temple, Spyro figured it would be best to work in this area regarding the trials for Ignitus's replacement, immediately Spyro and Cynder started tidying up the place, as Cynder used her wind breath to blow away the leaves while Spyro used his fire to give a good aesthetic to place as the crevices filled up with spawned pools of lava that were activated by his fire, suddenly they caught sight of an Ice dragon entering the dojo.

"Woah! Are you the purple dragon!?" The dragon called out in surprise as Spyro walked over and shook his paw.

"You can call me Spyro, this is Cynder" Spyro stepped aside to show him Cynder as he walked up and anxiously shook her hand.

"Always a pleasure" the Ice Dragon gave a friendly smile as he looked at what they were doing.

"What are you up to?" The Ice Dragon asked curiously.

"We're preparing the Dojo for the trials involving the next Fire Guardian" Spyro informed him as the Ice Dragon gasped in amazement.

"Wow! The trials, I wish I was a Fire Dragon, just to be in your presence is amazing!" The Ice Dragon's comments flattered Spyro as he and Cynder both smiled at each other and chuckled.

"Well, you can certainly watch, what's your story?" Spyro asked as the Ice Dragon told his story, "apparently I was raised by loving parents, both really nice, but they died in a battle with the Dark Master himself, I was taken here, and Cyril took me on as his student" The Ice Dragon explained as Spyro and Cynder looked in interest.

"That seems pretty interesting, well, you know our story, I'm sure" Cynder replied as The Ice Dragon nodded enthusiastically.

"Well, I best be letting you resume your work, see you at the trials" as the Ice Dragon prepare to leave Spyro stopped him.

"You know, we never got to fully know each other, what's your name?" Spyro asked as the Ice Dragon turned to face him, and smiled.

"Aemus"

**Present day**

**The Valley of Avalar**

Ash was blasted down into the grass, and crashed into 2 trees, before coughing up dirt, and stood up to face his sisters as they snarled at him and started blasting him fear, but Ash dodged as the blast was so powerful it destroyed the tree he stopped at.

"Please, stop! This isn't you! Nina! Star! Please" Ash cried out, but neither of them would listen as Nina gained the upper hand and blasted him with fear, as he started lying down and started wimpering, suddenly, visions flooded his head...

_"Cynder!" Spyro cried out as she coarsed with dark energy, and Malefor cackled. "Ignitus should've warned you, you are all alone, you have no one!" Spyro was knocked back by Cynder as Malefor walked up beside him._

_"I'm sure you've been told I was the first of our kind, but I assure you, there have been many, it has always been the duty of our kind to resurrect the Destroyer and bring about the birth of a new world, in my time I was stopped, but you...you have carried the flame, wether it be by your own will or not!" As Malefor spoke, Cynder continued to kick Spyro back._

_"No! I don't believe that!" Spyro protested as Malefor merely scoffed, "here you are, refusing to accept the true role of the purple dragon!" Eventually Cynder walked up and tried to strike Spyro again, but he blocked it with his wings as Malefor cackled evilly._

_"Fight back!" Cynder roared._

_"Fight back! Why won't you fight back!?" Cynder asked as Spyro weakly looked up at her._

_"Because you've left me nothing to fight for..." Spyro looked down as Cynder reverted to normal and smiled._

_"There's always something" Cynder and Spyro gave each other a compassionate smile, but turned to see Malefor's furious gaze._

_"Argh! So be it! You've made your choice! Prepare to die!"_

Ash opened his eyes in determination as he blasted both Nina and Star back with a flash of light, both fell to the ground, snarling as Ash gave them a new look, a look of determination.

"Bring it!" Ash challenged as both sisters charged at him, but Ash dodged as kicked Nina into a nearby tree, he mainly relied on Melee combat so as not to seriously injure either of them, he then met Star with a ram as the two tried to push each other back, but Ash grabbed her horns and swung her into the same spot where Nina was, however, they both stood up and started using their elemental abilities, Star tried to blast Ash with her ice shards, but Ash countered it with his Fire, it wasn't long until he noticed two other shapes beside him, Vapor and Flare, and the two of them helped push Star back as Nina snarled and charged into Ash.

"Ash!" Flare cries out as she and Vapor moved to hold Nina down, but they were both blown off by Star as both sisters moved in and started beating at Ash, he didn't want to hurt either of them, but they didn't have the same thoughts about him...

Meanwhile, the battle in the city wasn't going any better, Aemus has bested Spyro and the others and was now in a fist fight with Spyro as he punched him in the gut then the face and watched him fall to the ground in pain.

"Looks like I was right, parenting took a toll on you, Spyro, where's the inner purple dragon?" Aemus mocked as he dogged his claws into Spyro's stomach, and watched the purple dragon squirm in pain, then he removed them and kicked him aside, and moved to finish the job, but was stopped by Cynder, who was desperately trying to keep Aemus in place, but he merely kicked her away as he moved, claw in view, to finish the job, and as he raised his fist, a quick red blur blasted into Aemus's side, when he looked up furiously to see who did it, he realized his mistake when he saw Blaze, the Fire Guardian, along with Volteer, Cyril, and Terrador.

"Well, this day has gotten even better" Aemus snarled as Cyril walked up to him.

"Aemus? Is that you? You look..." Cyril couldn't finish the sentence as Aemus sent a warning shot of Ice shards from his mouth.

"Yes it's me! You old fool! And I've become more powerful than you ever were!" Aemus roared as the Guardians got into a defensive stance, Aemus then realized his error in taking on all the most experienced masters in the basic elements, and he spread his wings.

"Well, teacher, I'd love to stay! But I've got to complete a delivery that was long overdue, ruling Avalar, and finishing what my inspiration started long ago" Aemus declared as Volteer could think of only one person and gasped, "the Dark Master..."

Soon the others were swept away by his freezing cold winds, as he left, Spyro stood up wearily and helped Cynder up, then one thought came into his head, _"Ash!" _

Meanwhile, Ash wasn't getting much better treatment, he was covered in bruises and stratches, Flare and Vapor were attempting to help, but Nina and Star had little to no trouble dealing with them, and as Ash tried to resist, and urge came over him, when he looked at his paws, he saw nothing.

_"What the?" _Ash could tell his sisters thought the same, as they tried looking for him.

_"Is this Shadow?" _Ash wondered as he saw Aemus land in the field.

"Nina, Star, come with me" Aemus commanded as the they both nodded and followed, as soon as they left, the effect wore off and he became visible, soon Flare and Vapor rushed to his aid.

"Dude! What was that!?" Vapor asked in concern to his disappearing act.

"I don't know...I think it was Shadow, possibly...we need to get back to the city" Ash told them as they nodded in agreement, whoever, Ash was too weak to fly, so Flare kept him close to her, and draped her wing around him, he couldn't help but blush slightly, he had a crush on Flare, but he didn't know if she felt the same, Vapor kept guard at the rear as they made their way back to the city, and hopefully there weren't any surprises waiting for them.

**The tenth chapter mark! Now, I'd like to make a shoutout to Illusionmaster17, whose been reviewing my chapters since I started my stories all the way back with a Tale of two dragons, I'd also like to make a shout-out to everyone who has favorited and followed this story up to this point, thanks for your support, and I shall continue to write this story, so watch for Chapter 11, peace!**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

**20 years ago**

**Warfang: Training Dojo**

Spyro nervously walked into the crowded Dojo and took a seat next to the other three Guardians, and a Cynder took her seat on the opposite side of the Guardians due to consistency, then Terrador stepped forth.

"Hello, citizens of Warfang! It is my privilege to welcome you to the Trials for the role of the Fire Guardian, here are the contestants, keep in mind, these dragons have had years to master their element and are the best of the best, the contestants are: Scarlet, Nightstalker, Ruby, and Blaze" as Terrador said these names, he noticed every dragon execpt for Blaze was a dragoness, he didn't think this many dragonesses would be interested in the role, eventually Volteer explained the first trial: basic Fire combat, the user had to demonstrate a clear understanding of the basic uses of fire...by attacking dummies.

"Let the Trial commence!" Terrador announced as each dragon performed admirably, with Scarlet seeming to be the most impressive of the four, next was Advanced Fire Combat, same as the last one, but with Advanced techniques, Blaze performed admirably, it seemed like he knew the most about Advanced combat, finally, the last Trial commenced: using a Fire Fury successfully, each of the four had used their simple fury powers, but Blaze performed and unleashed a heat wave of fire, and managed to incinerate every dummy in sight with his fury, while many dragons ooo-d and aaa-d, Spyro beckoned Cynder over to him and discuss the results.

"I think I've come to my final decision" Spyro told Cynder as she nodded in response.

"Blaze" as soon as Spyro said this, Cynder grew a look of concern on her face.

"I was going with Scarlet" Cynder replied as Spyro looked in surprise.

"Well, picking Blaze...just feels right, thats all" Spyro continued as Cynder continued giving him a look.

"But Spyro, Blaze seems a little too well trained in his combat, Scarlet doesn't scare me as much" as soon as Cynder said this, Spyro gave her an angry glare.

"Cynder, Ignitus told me to follow my heart, and my heart said to pick Blaze, so I'll do this, with or without you!" Spyro snapped as Cynder finally submitted.

"Very well, I'll stand by you on this one" Cynder replied as Spyro nuzzled her.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped like that" Spyro apologized as Cynder did something surprising, she gave him her first kiss, Spyro was surprised at first, but that feeling was replaced by satisfaction as he returned it, and eventually they pulled back.

"I love you" Cynder whispered as Spyro smiled and said "I love you too" eventually Cyril found them and told them they were ready for their decision, as they walked out, Spyro decided to stay by Cynder as they made their decision.

"You four have all performed admirably, each of you have mastered the element of fireconsiderably, but I want to remind you only one of you can leave as a Guardian, so try not to have hard feelings, Spyro?" Terrador jestured towards the Purple dragon as he saw the others nod in acceptance.

"The new Fire Guardian is...Blaze!" As soon as Spyro spoke these words, the others started chanting Blaze's name, the other three congratulated him enthusiastically, Spyro would soon discover that they were a group of friends, which is why they were so accepting to this decision, later that day the others would admit that Blaze was always naturally gifted with Fire, and had studied far more than they did, and while Spyro was relieved that the day was over, he couldn't help but think about the first kiss he and Cynder had shared.

**Present day**

**Warfang**

Ash managed to make it back into the city, with Flare and Vapor keeping watch over him as they did so, Flare in particular kept close to him, even when it was her turn to watch the rear, she stayed as close to him as possible, Ash always kinda blushed when Flare paid a particular amount of attention to him, nevertheless, they finally returned to the city, where Spyro and Cynder were waiting for them.

"Ash!" Ash looked up to see Cynder rush to him and hugged him tightly, and Spyro joined.

"Where are Nina and Star?" Spyro asked as Ash looked at the floor.

"Aemus took them" Ash replied as Spyro looked up at the sky.

"Aemus...the damn fool" Spyro grumbled as Cynder turned to face him.

"We need to rescue them, who know what Aemus will do" Spyro told the others as Ash looked up weakly.

"Spyro, you can't go, your too weak, as am I, don't worry, Ash will be able to go" as soon as Cynder said those words, Ash felt more miserable.

"But last time, I was completely out of my league, what makes you think I'll stand anymore of a chance?" Ash asked as Cynder gave him a warm smile.

"You'll figure it out, you always do" as Cynder turned away, Vapor ran up and started exclaiming.

"Oh yeah, during the battle, Ash turned invisible, it was awesome! You should've seen it!" Vapor's comment made Cynder turn around in interest.

"Invisible, eh? Ash, it seems as though your gifted with the ability of Shadow, you'll need to master it if you want to stop Aemus, come with me, I'll help you master this element, Spyro, you should rest" Cynder said the last part to her mate as they walked into their backyard...

Late into the night, Ash was sitting on the roof of his house, Cynder hadn't been kind with her Training, he just ended up with more bruises, Flare had offered to spend the night to keep Ash company, but Ash needed to be alone, he sighed in a depressed tone.

_"I've always been the runt, the weakling" _then Ash remembered his conversation with Spyro, and he mentally slapped himself, "your not useless!" Ash snapped at himself as he continued to gaze at the three full moons, Eclasia had always been a planet of beauty, but Avalar was the best at showing this beauty, it was rarely cloudy, allowing for a perfect view of the night almost all the time, then he heard shuffling coming from the doorway, when he turned around, he saw a familiar dragoness.

"Need company?" Flare asked as Ash accepted and Flare gracefully walked up to him and sat beside him.

"Flare...what's it like knowing you have all this potential, and you don't know what to do with it?" Ash asked as Flare gazed into his eyes.

"I think it's just something that'll be discovered in time" Flare replied as Ash looked up and smiled, and Flare returned the smile, eventually they looked away in the awkwardness of it all, then Ash started twirling his claw in the ground.

"Flare...can I ask you something?" Ash asked as Flame looked in curiosity.

"Ask away" Flare replied as Ash proceeded.

"What do you feel for me?" Ash wondered as he noticed Flare was blushing madly.

"Well, I-um, I just..." Flare stopped and she looked at the ground.

"It's okay, go ahead" Ash beckoned her to continue, and she spoke in a flurry.

"OKAY YES, I DO LOVE YOU, I'VE HAD FEELINGS FOR YOU FOR AWHILE NOW, OKAY!? BUT I WAS ALWAYS SCARED OF YOUR REACTION IF I TOLD YOU" Flare's answer surprised Ash, she really meant it, Ash held up her face with his hand, and smiled.

"What about you?" Flare asked as she grabbed ahold of his wrist.

"I do" was all Ash said, at first Flare was surprised, but it was replaced by joy as Ash kissed her on the lips, and Flare returned it, it felt like an eternity, but it was only a few seconds before they pulled back, and they rested their heads against each other.

"I love you Flare, there isn't anything I'd do for you, since I met you, I've been in love with you, but I felt the same way about your reaction, I'm just glad your reaction was a good one" Ash smiled as Flare returned the smile.

"Oh Ash, it feels so good to get that off my chest, and I'll rest any doubts you have, we'll do this, we'll get your sisters back, I promise" Flare then kisses Ash again, and they stayed there much longer, until Ash beckoned Flare to rest with him, and they spent the night with one another, each thinking about the score they just made.

**Aw yeah, now the Romance happens! Honestly this has been a long time coming, I'm just glad it's happening again, I didn't want the children to go on without any love, what kind of story would this be then? Anyway, stay tuned for Chapter 12, and peace!**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

**20 years ago**

**Quake's grill**

The next day, Spyro and Cynder decided to introduce Aemus to the others, and what better place to do that than at one of the most popular food chains.

"His name is Aemus" Spyro introduced the Ice dragon to the others, Flame was very open with him, same with Ember, however, Nero and Rhea were slightly suspicious about his intentions, however, they eventually warmed up to him, and they shared quiet an entertaining lunch, eventually, the group decided to go to the local market, to see what random stuff they could find, amongst many things, Spyro and Cynder found costumes of themselves, and were a little unnerved by this, but made the best of it as they both dressed up as the other, and they shared a good laugh, Aemus came across them with a fancy hat on, and grabbed a walking stick and started doing a funky dance, which earned Cynder and Spyro yet another flurry of laughter as they found themselves some masks, however, from a distance, two dragons were conversing privately.

"I just don't trust him, Rhea, his character, it just seems shady" Nero pointed out as Rhea rolled her eyes.

"Nero, you think that about everyone" Rhea replied as Nero gave her a slight glare.

"Yeah, but this time, I feel extra suspicious about this, Aemus just doesn't seem like a trustworthy dragon, I mean sure he was taken in by Cyril, but that doesn't mean he's not a shady character, if you ask me, I think he's a spy" Nero's assumption made Rhea gasp.

"Nero! We've just met this guy, that's no reason to assume the worst" Rhea slapped Nero's shoulder as he rolled his eyes.

"I don't think it's just me, but have you noticed how close Aemus is to Cynder, he may be trying to steal her from Spyro" Nero whispered in his sister's ear as she shoved him away.

"Sure...and I'm green" Rhea's response made Nero scoff in disbelief.

"Whatever...but if something happens, don't come crying to me about it, I'm gonna find Flame and Ember" Nero walked off, leaving Rhea to ponder some more as she too particularly noticed Aemus trying to stay close to Cynder, it was probably nothing, Rhea pushed the thought from her head as she walked off to find her brother before he got himself into trouble.

Meanwhile, Spyro and Cynder had decided to leave Aemus as he was fine with it, and the two did some personal shopping, the first thing Cynder found that interested her was the jewelry, she couldn't stop gazing at all the pieces as Spyro rolled his eyes and sighed playfully.

"Cynder, we can't spend all day looking at jewelry, plus your gonna pull my arm out of my socket" Cynder looked back and saw how fiercely she was tugging at his arm, she then let go as she blushed madly, then Spyro found a particular piece that intrigued him, he looked at it's case and asked the dragon at the counter what it was.

"Oh that? It's a dragon amulet necklace, carved from marble, and engraved in each symbol of the basic elements, if you wish, I can get you an amulet with the secondary elements engraved if you'd like" the dragon brought up a good reason for Spyro, and he in turn asked for the secondary elements, when he saw it, he knew that this was it.

"How much for it?" Spyro asked as the dragon ran up the price.

"17 gold pieces" the dragon requested, Spyro looked to make sure Cynder wasn't looking, and he purchased the necklace.

"Would you like a bag?" The Dragon asked as Spyro nodded, the dragon in turn placed the amulet into a small bag, and handed it to Spyro.

"Have a nice day, Purple dragon" The Dragon told him as Spyro smiled, it was nice to not have anyone gawking over his presence, he walked over to Cynder as she continued observing the jewelry.

"Oh hey Spyro, whatcha got there?" Cynder pointed at the bag as Spyro smirked and said "you'll just have to find out" Spyro's comment made Cynder grin herself, she desperately wanted to know what it was, but she could wait for now, soon enough they ran into Aemus, who told them he had found carvings of ancient dragons, and was so fascinated by them, eventually they all called it a day and they went their separate ways.

Later that night, Spyro and Cynder were holding one another in a tight embrace.

"Spyro...I love you, and I never want this to end" Cynder said as Spyro smiled and he wrapped his wings around her.

"I could say the same, speaking of which" Spyro reached for the bag, and gave it to Cynder.

"What is it?" Cynder asked as Spyro merely beckoned her to open it, as she did, she started crying slightly as she saw the necklace.

"Spyro...it's beautiful" Cynder stammered as Spyro kept her in his embrace.

"If you use one of your elemental powers on it, the necklace will change color, go ahead" Spyro back away as Cynder used a blast of fear, in turn, the crystal in the center change black, and showed the fear icon, Spyro then placed it around her neck.

"There, it fits perfectly" Spyro smiled as Cynder nuzzled him, and they eventually dozed off.

**Present day**

**Ruins: The Dark Master's fortress**

Nina's vision started clearing as she looked around her to see multiple dark ruins, thankfully, being possessed didn't mean she wasn't capable of sight, she turned to see Star in a similar state as her, and in front of them was Aemus, Nina tried to growl, but the control she was placed under wouldn't allow it, Aemus merely chuckled and turned to face her.

"Now, my pets, we shall witness the dawn of a new Dark Master...me, Aemus! Will succeed where Malefor failed, and I shall rule Eclasia with an iron fist! Witness, the darkness born anew!" Aemus formed two orbs of dark magic as they levitated around him, and they blasted into the Ruins, immediately the structure was rebuilt, and it started lifting as a huge earthquake rumbled throughout Avalar, and the lair was lifted above the volcano from which it once stood, and Nina and Star walked over to join him in his glory as he cackled maniacally, Nina hoped Ash was doing something helpful to try and save them...

Ash had awoken to feel a familiar weight on him, then realized that weight was Flare, and he started to recall the events of last night, his confession, hers, the joy of knowing they felt the same way, and their eventually rest, unfortunately, Ash had to get Flare off of him, he was supposed to meet his father at the Dragon Temple, which was a big deal, he moved slightly, but ended up stirring Flare as she opened her eyes.

"Going somewhere?" Flare asked as Ash chuckled, "yes, I am, I need to be at the Dragon Temple, and I wouldn't mind if you joined me" Ash told Flare as she smiled and eventually, she yielded, and they got out of the bed, one thing still pressed at Ash's mind.

"How am I even going to find Aemus?" Ash asked as he stepped outside with Flare at her side, their tails coiled, and Flare gave a concerned look.

"I don't think you'll have to look far" Flame pointed upwards, and Ash saw what she was pointing at, there in the sky, was a Flying Fortress, suspended above a large volcano, _"the way that fortress is flying was described once before in the texts, Malefor, it seems Aemus has caused it to re-levitate itself" _Ash thought to himself as he and Flare walked to the Dragon Temple, and at a much quicker pace. As soon as they entered, Blaze and Cyril escorted them to the Guardian's Chambers, where they saw Terrador, Volteer, and their parents waiting for them.

"Ah Ash, your finally here, good, we can discuss our little operation we're doing" Spyro greeted Ash and Flare as they followed him into the center of the room.

"Thanks to his large lack of ability when it comes to keeping his mouth shut, we know exactly what Aemus's plan is, to rule our world with an iron fist, the fact that Malefor's fortress has re-suspended itself proves this" Cyril explained as the others listened diligently, "however, he also has two hostages, Nina and Star, the sisters of young Ash here, and we need to find a way to rescue them and stop Aemus for good before he masses up a huge army" Volteer pointed out as Blaze stepped up to speak.

"Our best plan would be for Ash here to sneak up to his fortress, and best Aemus, breaking his control over Nina and Star, and freeing them, however, let us not forget that Aemus must've used dark magic, the same dark magic as Malefor, clearly he trained himself in the art for some time, so it is not unlikely that he could amass a huge army under his command" Blaze pointed out as Ash looked back to see Spyro looking down in disappointment, he knew why, his father felt like he let everyone down, but Ash was going to help him fix this. Flare continued to stay close to Ash, keeping their tails coiled, then Ash had a suggestion.

"Wait, if he has a massive army, it's not to far-fetched to assume he has warriors guarding the place, I should have _some_ help, right?" Ash made them consider this, and Terrador walked up to him.

"You make a fair point Ash, and that is why we were going to allow you to speak with your friends and allow you to travel as a group, regardless, you should prepare yourselves, you're going to head out momentarily" Terrador dismissed them as Ash and Flare left the Guardian's chamber, and exited the Dragon Temple.

"Well, no pressure, right?" Ash asked Flare as she nodded hesitantly.

"Well, I figure we should go find your friends and Vapor" Ash suggested as Flare nodded more confidently.

"Ash, whatever happens, I want you to know that...I love you" Flare told him as he realized she just kinda made it official.

"I won't forget..." Ash smiled as they moved out to find the others...

Star gazed around at the interior of the fortress, she had always heard tales of the Dark Master nearly destroying the world, however Aemus didn't have the same ideas, he wanted to rule, not destroy, but that didn't make it any better, Star wished she could growl at him, but all he could do was stand idly like Nina, she just hoped Ash was doing something to get to them, if Aemus succeeded, the world would relapse into a second Dark Age, and Star knew that couldn't happen.

"Ah, isn't is luxurious? That feeling of power, judging from the texts, Malefor had multiple armies at his command, he had Apes, Grublins, and Orcs, even Earth Golems were at his disposal, now I shall bring them back" Aemus walked past them.

"But first..." Aemus formed an orb of green energy, and summoned in Malefor's top general, he read about the night of eternal darkness, the events that happened at the Well of Souls, and he knew who the general was, with the energy, he rebuilt a stone statue of a giant ape, then broke the mold, and the ape behind the mold was Gaul.

"Argh-Wait? Where am I, and who are you?" Gaul asked as Aemus explained his origins.

"So you despise the purple whelpling as well? Where is the Dark Master?" Gaul asked again as Aemus explained the events that took place.

"Wait? Malefor? Defeated? Impossible...how long have I been incapacitated?" Gaul wondered.

"About 20 years at best" as Aemus explained this, Gaul gave off a look of shock.

"What happened to my armies?" Gaul asked as Aemus explained their treachery to Malefor after Gaul's death.

"But I can return them if you wish" Aemus's offer made Gaul consider this, and he accepted, Aemus then formed yet another orb of dark magic, and suddenly, when they looked outside, thousands upon thousands of Apes awaited their orders.

"And who are they?" Gaul pointed at Nina and Star, and Aemus explained how they were the offspring of Spyro, and that there was a third, but he still resides in the city.

"So, the Purple Whelpling is a father now? This can work to our advantage um..." Gaul still didn't have a name from Aemus.

"My name is Aemus, and I am your new Dark Master" Aemus sat down on the throne that once belonged to Malefor.

"Now, we witness the dawn of a new age!" ...


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

**20 years ago**

**Warfang**

The night sky shone very clearly as the three moons of Eclasia showed brightly as two black dragons moved through the shadows, finally they found the quarters of their target: Aemus.

"Nero, why are we doing this?" Rhea asked as Nero looked at her.

"I told you, somethings off with this Aemus character, I intend to find out before he do something against Spyro or Cynder" Nero's response surprised Rhea slightly.

"Huh, didn't think you cared that much" Rhea replied as Nero continued to glance through the window.

"Well, it's been 2 weeks since their return to Warfang, I don't want them to suddenly have another threat to deal with, Wait! There he is" Nero looked at the Ice Dragon ad he set his bed, and spoke a little prayer to the Ancestors, before he walked off to continue his business, then Nero spotted something particularly intriguing, using his shadow element, he entered through the skylight and silently landed as he grabbed the book: _"the basics of primordial magic" _Nero assumed Aemus was into all sorts of magic, which meant he could be a student in dark magic, Nero looked around at all the books in his shelf, more magic texts

_"Hmm, there's gotta be something here" _Nero was cut out of his thoughts as he saw Aemus enter the room, he was carrying a small, dusty ancient text book, and he placed it on the bed as he started reciting an incantation, eventually a dark orb form in his paw, and he leaped excitedly, eventually Nero got a good look at the spell, and saw it was an incantation used to activate a Dragon's inner dark form, after Aemus turned off the light to rest, Nero held up the book and made out the titles: _"Dark incantations" _when Nero looked below, he saw the author: _"Malefor" _Nero grabbed the book and flew up to Rhea, and showed her the book.

"This proves it! Aemus is a student of dark magic" Nero gave the book to Rhea as she looked in realization at how right his brother was.

"Nero...for once, you actually could be right...we need to see Spyro" Rhea replied as they both took off to the sky...

_The next day_

"Where did I put that book?" Aemus muttered to himself as he looked around for it, he could've sworn he put it right beside his bedside table, if someone had found that book, he'd be dead, he knew Dark Magic was forbidden in the Dragon World, but he figured it wouldn't hurt to study some of the arts, as of last night he was just thrilled to have learnt some magic, it was the first form he ever mastered too, just last night, but he couldn't compromise his relations with Spyro and Cynder, he might just have to keep them quiet, just then Aemus remembered a spell Cyril taught him, it was basically a spell to see what others can't, and it could help him figure out what happened, he recited the Incantation as a small little window surrounded by blue energy appeared before, he looked through and saw the events unfold.

There he was, asleep, and then he used the magic to see any and all forms, then he caught sight of Nero as he grabbed the book and left, and when he looked up, he saw Rhea as well.

_"Well, isn't that unfortunate" _Aemus sighed, he would just have to keep those two...quiet.

**Present Day**

**Warfang: eastern wall**

Ash and the others stood at the base wall, Flare stayed the closest to him, with Vapor staying at his left side, Ash would turn back to see Flashwing and the others giving them little smirks of approval, then they saw Spyro and Cynder walk up to him.

"Ash, may we have a moment?" Cynder asked as he nodded and the three of them walked along the wall.

"Ash, we just wanted to ease your minds about any doubts you had, remember, we were your age too" Spyro told him as Ash looked up at him.

"Oh, and Ash..." Cynder leaned down so that her head was facing his face.

"Nice job with Flare" Cynder spoke as Ash started blushing.

"Mom!" Ash replied, clearly embarrassed as Spyro chuckled.

"We mean it Ash, having someone special in your life is something, well...special, it's a feeling me and Cynder know all too well" Spyro smiled as he and Cynder nuzzled each other.

"All we're saying is we're proud of you, and we don't want you to worry, just...don't pull a Spyro on us and go missing after you save the world" Cynder told him as he sent him back to his friends.

"So what was that about?" Videri asked as Ash shrugged.

"Regular parent stuff, alright, we ready?" Ash asked as the others nodded in response.

"Alright then, let's go" Ash spread his wings, when he realized that the Ape warriors were chalk-full with weaponry. When he looked down, he was almost hit by a spear, but Flare pulled him back just in time.

"Woah!" Ash gasped as Flare tightly held his arm.

"How are we supposed to get to Aemus now?" Vapor asked as Ash tried to think of something, just then he saw multiple dragon warriors and moles walk up and start attacking the Apes with their cannons and crossbows, as well as various dragons flying out and attacking the apes with their elemental abilities.

"We'll cover you, go!" One of the dragons told Ash as he spread his wings again.

"Let's do this!" Ash exclaimed as the others followed him as he took to the skies to storm Aemus's fortress...

Aemus toyed with an orb he formed through dark magic, he then looked at Nina and Star, they were his puppets, his loyal slaves, he chuckled to himself, _"the irony of it all" _Aemus then left his throne and told the sisters to follow him. Finally he showed them a statue of Malefor.

"Do you know what this is?" Aemus asked them, not expecting an answer.

"This is the statue of the almighty Malefor, the Dark Master...and a failure, his inability to go about his plans prevented him from completing his goal, and you know the rest, now, I shall not fail this time...and one more thing" Aemus leaned down so he was face to face with the sisters.

"If your brother comes here to stop me...kill him" Aemus finished plainly as he walked off into his fortress to continue scheming.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

**20 years ago**

**Warfang: Quake's grill**

Nero was pacing from side-to-Side, he had Rhea fetch the others so he could speak to them about his discovery, that's when he saw the one dragon he didn't want to see, Aemus. Nero acted casual as Aemus walked up and greeted him in a friendly tone.

"Hi Nero" Aemus smiled and waved as Nero returned the greeting plainly, Aemus continued to stay there as he tried to start a conversation, which didn't seem to fit well with Nero, who was slowly backing away.

"What's wrong?" Aemus asked as Nero smiled awkwardly.

"Nothing..." Nero replied as Aemus decided to take him into an alleyway, once they were there, Aemus kicked Nero in the gut, and he rolled onto the floor.

"Hey! What was that for?" Nero exclaimed as Aemus started growling, "That was for not minding your own business last night" Aemus snapped as he blasted Ice shards at Nero, who used his Shadow ability to hide from the damage, then he reverted back to normal as Aemus gave him a glare.

"You know Aemus, I always knew there was something fishy about you..." Nero growled, "well great...now I want fish!" Aemus leaped at Nero with his claws out, and roared as Nero got into a defensive stance.

Nero used his tail to knock Aemus off his feet as he charged in and bit his neck, tossing him around, and flailed him towards the wall as Aemus stood back up hastily and rammed into his side, knocking him off balance. Just as Aemus was prepared to strike him again, Nero used Shadow to evade his attack and scratch him from behind. "ARGH!" Aemus shrieked as he twisted around and harnessed his magic as he grabbed Nero's shoulders, whilst in Shadow form, and threw him against the wall, sending him crashing into the shop inside, dozens of Moles and Dragons were startled by this as Nero stood upward only for Aemus to charge at him again, blasting Ice Shards at his opponent, but Nero was faster and dodged to blasts and met Aemus at a ram.

"You know Nero? It doesn't have to be like this, you could agree to keep this quiet, you could also become my protege if you wished" Aemus whispered as he was tossed back by Nero.

"I'll never join you!" Nero yelled as he swiped at Aemus with his claws, who grabbed a nearby object to block the attack, then he threw it at Nero, who stumbled backwards, slightly stunned. Aemus used this to his advantage as he charged into Nero again and slammed him into the ground, but Nero head butted Aemus off of him and relied on his melee skills, he was after all trained in the art of it, an ancient form studied by Terria herself. Nero opened his eyes with determination as he started skillfully dodging each of Aemus's blows, and then kicked him in the stomach as he rolled back, Nero then used his Shadow ability to disappear and sneak up on the unsuspecting Aemus as he tried to attack him whilst invisible, but Aemus was ready, he grabbed Nero's punch, and sent him flying outside as he followed, where they continued to attack one another while they rolled across the ground. Soon enough, Nero kicked him up in the air as he followed by spreading his wings and striking Aemus from beneath, but Aemus was quicker, and grabbed Nero by the neck and held him in the air.

"So disappointing, I expected more from you Nero, oh well, after I silence you, I'll go find your sister Rhea, hopefully she'll be much more compliant than you" as Aemus said those words, Nero roared and broke off.

"You won't lay a finger on her!" Nero yelled as Aemus chuckled.

"Oh Nero...your making this more difficult than it needs to be, just accept it...you've lost" Aemus replied as Nero charged at him in rage, but Aemus grabbed him by the horns and threw him down to the pavement below, hearing a loud thud, he lowered himself to see the damage he'd done, and saw Nero, just barely able to crawl.

"Such a regrettable moment...I hate to do this to you Nero, I really do, but you made this be your fate" Aemus raised his claws about to make the blow, when he was blasted by a stream of wind, when he looked over, he saw Cynder, Spyro, and the others, as well as Cyril.

"Nero!" Rhea cried out as she ran through the others and rushed to his side.

"Aemus! What in th Ancestors do you think your doing!?" Cyril asked, clearly upset.

"Teacher let me explain..." Aemus tried to reason with him, but Rhea stopped him.

"No...let me" Rhea walked up to Cyril and explained the whole ordeal, the suspicious attitude, Aemus's illegal spell books, and she even showed him the Dark Incantations book, when Cyril saw who the author was, he stormed up to Aemus.

"Aemus! I expected you to be better than this! You know Dark Magic is illegal, especially dark magic that was used by the Dark Master!" Cyril uproared as he threw the book at Aemus, ?Aemus...you've left me no other choice...I'm exiling you from the city, and don't even think about considering yourself as my student ever again!" Cyril yelled furiously as Aemus gave a look of shock, he picked up the book, and walked away, before giving a glare at Spyro and Cynder, and most of all, Nero, than he finally walked away. As soon as Aemus was out of sight, Cyril turned his attention back to Nero.

"He needs a healer, or gems, or...something! Put him on my back, I'll take him to the Dragon Temple" Cyril informed the others as they helped lift the weakened Nero onto Cyril's back, and he took off in the direction of the Temple.

"I'm so sorry Rhea, I should've been more careful..." Spyro looked at Rhea as she laughed a little.

"It's not your fault Spyro, these things happen, Nero was just looking out for you and Cynder, he told me himself, he didn't want you to become involved in another battle so soon after Malefor" Rhea's response surprised Spyro and Cynder, then they looked over and saw the Dragon Temple in the distance.

"Let's pay him a visit, shall we?" Spyro suggested as Cynder smiled and the two took off in Cyril's direction.

**Present day**

**The Floating Islands**

Ash and the others proceeded to land on a small patch of floating islands that were just by Aemus's stronghold, he looked back and saw the others landing on separate islands.

"Okay! This is the one thing between us, and that stronghold" Ash pointed at the fortress as the others nodded.

"No pressure right? We have wings" Videri joked as they made their way across, a few times, Ash saw Vapor losing his balance, and proceeded to help him, Cynthia was calculating the distance and time as well.

"At this rate, we'll be there in no time" Cynthia pointed out as Flashwing maneuvered around very carefully, then Ash turned back to hear a scream as he saw Flare about to fall, with lightning speed, Ash rushed over and grabbed her hand before she fell, and pulled her back up.

"Thanks Ash..." Flare breathed heavily as the two lept from island to island together, with Ash making sure Flare could keep her balance, eventually they made it to the fortress, however, with it being so wide, they had to dig their claws into the extremely thin wall in order to shimmy across. Finally, they managed to make it across and they looked at the entrance, soon enough they saw Apes rushing up to them from the opposite direction.

"Go Ash! We'll take care of them!" Vapor told him as Ash looked at Flare, and the two stepped up to the entrance.

"You can do this Ash...just come back to me when it's over" Flame whispered as Ash smiled and kissed her on the forehead.

"Go help the others" Ash told her as she nodded and went to join them, as Ash stepped towards the doors, they opened very slowly, and he saw Aemus, standing on Malefor's throne, on both sides of him were Nina and Star, both under his control.

"At long last, my guest has arrived, such tenacity to get here, you really are a bold one" Aemus chuckled as he walked down off the throne and started circling Ash.

"It seems we share more qualities than you'd think" Aemus smirked as Ash rebuked him.

"No! I'm nothing like you!" Ash exclaimed as Aemus simply laughed.

"Do you think so? Hmm...we'll get to that, please, have a seat!" Aemus sent a large green orb at Ash, forcing him to kneel.

"Foolish child! You shouldn't have come here, now I will have the joy of turning the one child that Spyro and Cynder still cherish" as Aemus said this, he formed a dark purple orb, that flowed will dark magic, and he sent it onto Ash, sending him into a spiral of pain as he felt the darkness swallowing his light.

"Oh, you really are gullible, just like your father, he was always weak...now, my slave, join me!" Ash collapsed as his vision faded...

_"Awake young dragon" Ash opened his eyes to find himself in a strange library, filled to the brink with ancient texts, beneath him was a carving of the basic elements, and he saw a blue dragon walking up to him._

_"I've been watching you...for a long time" the dragon spoke as Ash looked up in confusion, "and you are?" Ash wondered as the dragon answered for him._

_"I go by many names, your father knew me as Ignitus, but I am the Chronicler, however, you...are free to call me whatever suits you better" Ignitus smiled as Ash looked in awe, he remembered Ignitus, Spyro spoke very fondly of him._

_"What is this place anyway?" Ash asked as Ignitus used his magic to summon a book to him, and it opened._

_"This is a place that has existed for generations, a place dedicated to the recording of each passing age, I, am the scriber, the one who records it all, Ash, very few have gained the position of Chronicler, it is usually quite a privilege" Ignitus told Ash as he looked at the book._

_"What's in that one?" Ash pointed to the book Ignitus had, "why, it's your story, last we left off, you were being consumed by darkness, Aemus was about to control you, but you know this has not transpired yet, time moves much slower here, Ash, you are the son of Spyro, a legendary purple dragon, you have the potential to do limitless things, I have watched you since you were a small hatchling, I've watched you grow and train, and I was thrilled as you discovered your elements...just like your father" Ignitus leaned down beside him._

_"Ash, you have just one more element to unlock: Ice, but you'll gain this power in a fairly particular way...and once you renounce that darkness Aemus uses, you will become more powerful than ever, now, I must leave you for now, stay safe young dragon, and just like I told your father: follow your heart..._

Ash opened his eyes as he felt Aemus's magic attempting to seep into his body, "hmm, this is taking longer than usual..." Aemus muttered as Ash tried to resist the dark magic that was flowing through his body, eventually, he felt something, a spark...he remembered what Nina told him.

_"Find your inner spark" _Ash closed his eyes and when he opened them, they flowed a fierce white as the darkness surrounded him.

"About time!" Aemus exclaimed as he saw the dark blob rise in the air, "eh?" Aemus wondered, but was blasted back as the dark magic was thrown off of Ash, he was covered in a bright light, and as he landed, the light cleared, and he saw his new composition, instead of red and gold scales, he was covered in purple and gold, he saw every part of him, and it showed virbantly.

"Awesome!" Ash cried out as he saw Nina and Star growling in defense, but Ash didn't seem to worry, as they both charged at him, Ash ducked and grabbed Star by the foot, he then proceeded to tap her forehead, and he watched as the darkness was drained from her body, and she collapsed on the floor, exhausted, Ash then looked over to see Nina as she attacked him, attempting to bash and beat him, but Ash seemed to be impervious to it as he merely tapped her forehead, and watched as the same thing happened to her, and she collapsed on top of him, quickly, Ash managed to push her off as he stood up to face the slowly recovering Aemus.

"Your game is over, Aemus, give up!" Ash declared as Aemus merely laughed.

"Fool! You think that just because you have a different scale color, you'll be able to stop me?" Aemus asked as Ash looked around.

"Pretty much" Ash replied as he noticed Nina and Star wearily looking up at him.

"A-Ash?" Star asked as he looked back at her and nodded, he then proceeded to use his Poison, but instead there Ice Shards came out, they all struck Aemus, who slightly stiffened as they stabbed through his scales, causing him great pain.

"Well, what do you know?" Ash murmured to himself as he decided to charge at Aemus, who wasn't prepared for Ash's sudden attack, and was knocked off balance.

"Ack! You little brat!" Aemus attempted to bite at Ash, but he rounded behind him and bit down on his tail.

"Argh!" Aemus roared in pain as Ash tried to tug him down to the depths below, and he did so, and the two started plummeting into the volcano, eventually they landed on a surface of purple crystal, Ash recognized the place, this was where Malefor was trapped and sealed by Spyro and Cynder, he read about it in the texts, he looked up at Aemus as he snarled and attempted to blast him with more Ice Shards, but Ash nimbly dodged and blasted back at Aemus with his Poison, which startled and aggravated Aemus as he attempted to use his large horns at a ram against Ash, but he merely grabbed them and threw him back against the side of the volcano, then when Ash looked down, he noticed a familiar head shape, one only told to him by Spyro and Cynder, Malefor...Aemus could possibly be trapped in the same way as Malefor, he knew what he needed to do, he closed his eyes and he heard Ignitus's words speak to him.

_"Follow your heart" _Ash opened his eyes with an amethyst glow, and he breathed in his maw, and realized a fury of pure energy from his maw, and it hit Aemus directly.

"Gah! What's happening!? What is this?" Aemus looked around to see multiple dragons of pure energy swarming around him, then he realized what Ash was trying to do.

"You cannot defeat me, I am Inevitable!" Aemus cried out as he felt himself being dragged into the crystal, Ash relentlessly continued to blast him with his Aether breath, and he watched as Aemus soon fully submerged into the crystal.

"No! NOOOOOOO!" Ash heard Aemus screech as he was submerged, and he watched as a new dragon joined Malefor down below, then he proceeded to fly back up and find his sisters, who were both standing up wearily.

"Nina! Star!" Ash cried out in joy as he raced towards them.

"Ash? Is that you? You look very...purple" Nina pointed out as Ash just hugged them, and they got a little surprised.

"I'm so happy your back..." Ash started crying a little as they pulled back.

"Well, my head is pounding, that's for sure" Star pointed out.

"Um, that's not your head..." Ash replied, he then realized what was happening, the fortress was crashing into the volcano.

"Alright, let's go!" Ash cried out as they followed him out the doors, and he saw the others waiting.

"Ash! You'll never believe what happened, we were fighting these Apes and their general, I think his name was Gaul, and then they just disintegrated, was that you?" Vapor asked as Ash said he'd explain later, right now they needed to move, they all took to the skies as they flew away and watched the fortress crash behind them, it was over, Ash sighed in relief as Flare flew up by him, clearly impressed with his new look, and they flew back down to the city


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

**20 years ago **

**Warfang: The Dragon Temple**

Spyro and Cynder were waiting outside Nero's room, until a healer came out and told him he was ready, Spyro and Cynder walked inside to see Nero using some gems on his arm.

"Hey Nero..." Spyro greeted as he smiled in response.

"I'm so sorry about Aemus...I should've realized..." Spyro trailed off as Nero smiled once more.

"Hey don't worry about it, just looking out for my friend" **(you know how backwards this world is right? In the first series, Nero literally works for Malefor) **Nero chuckled as Cynder smiled at Spyro.

"We're just happy your okay" Cynder replied as Nero felt the bandage that wrapped around his forehead.

"Hey, anytime you need someone exposed, I'm your dragon" Nero joked as Spyro laughed slightly.

"Well, you certainly excelled with that" Spyro replied as the healer came in and told Nero that Rhea wanted to see him.

"Okay, we'll give you two some time" Cynder walked out with Spyro as Nero waved goodbye, and then Rhea entered to speak with him. As they stepped outside the Temple, they both breathed in the air, and realized how wonderful their life was going to be.

"Spyro..." Cynder began as Spyro turned to face her.

"I love you so much, and I never want this to end" Cynder nuzzled Spyro as he returned it, and then they kissed, as soon as they finished, Spyro figured it'd be time to go eat, and so they did, tails coiled, and went to Quake's Grill for some food.

**Present day**

**Warfang: The Dragon Temple**

Ash and the others landed swiftly as they saw Spyro and Cynder rush to them as they started hugging all three of them.

"Oh we missed you so much...I'm just glad to see you again" Spyro stammered as Cynder stayed close to him and they released their kids, they then noticed Ash's color change.

"Ash...what happened to you?" Cynder asked as Ash explained, "well you see, there I was, slowly being corrupted by Aemus's magic, when all of a sudden, I'm in this weird library, and an elderly dragon called Ignitus spoke with me, and told me to follow my heart, and then boom! I was purple" as Ash explained his story, Spyro's eyes widened as he realized how special Ash was.

"Ignitus...spoke to you?" Spyro asked as Ash nodded.

"Well...I think we've learned enough today, with another evil vanquished, let's just celebrate, and Ash, we'll be at the house waiting, Nina, Star, you two must be exhausted from that little misadventure" Cynder blurted as Nina and Star nodded almost in unison and they followed their parents, eventually the other girls left too, and so did Vapor, which left Ash alone with Flare.

"You know something Ash? I never thought we could actually pull it off, but you did...you always do" Flare told him as he smiled and nuzzled her, "well, Flare, I'm glad I had some moral support from you" Ash replied as Flare smiled.

"I love you..." Flare told Ash as he smiled.

"I love you too" Ash responded as the two kissed, it was a moment that lasted for two minutes at least, and from the distance, two dragons watched the scene.

"Great going kid..." Spyro smiled as him and Cynder looked at each other, and they too decided to kiss each other, and that was probably one of the happiest days in Warfang for Ash...one of the happiest days...

The End

Everlasting coming soon

**Yes! I'm done! That was so much fun to write, probably one of the longest projects I've ever worked on (with a minimum of 1k words per chapter) it was an incredible journey, and I'm glad I can move on as well, thanks to those who stuck around for this, and peace!**


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